One-Punch Family
by Demoness Kneesocks
Summary: What if Saitama wasn't the loner we are used to? What if he had a wife and son to liven up his life? Wait, his wife and son are monsters? !
1. Just a normal day

**AN: Hello! I've had this in my mind for over a year and only now developed the guts to publish it. The first chapter is short but I'm hoping the others will be longer (over 3k).**

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It was a normal day in Z-City. The city was alive as people commuted from one end to the other, birds happily chirped and children laughed carelessly in the streets… Well except in one place.

The abandoned area was deadly quiet, as usual, since everyone else had fled long ago due to the high presence of monsters in the area. No one knew how or why but the mysterious beings seemed to be either inexplicably attracted to that area or somehow spawned in there, making it a high-danger turf for civilians.

Wait, did I say no one lived in there anymore? Because there was one family that still inhabited one apartment in one of the abandoned buildings. A father, a mother and their son.

A bald man sat hunched over a computer screen, cheek propped up in his left hand and a permanently bored expression set his face. Just another boring day was going by and he had nothing else to do but try and entertain himself. He'd been idle browsing since waking up but something seemed odd about his home the entire time. Had he forgotten to water the plants? No, he'd done that yesterday. Maybe wash his uniform? No, that had been done as well. Then what could it be? If only he could focus and ignore the background noise of the TV… Wait. When had he turned on the TV? Unless... Yep. Now he knew what had been bothering him. Mainly the presence of his son on a school day.

"Aren't you supposed to be in school?" Saitama asked without turning around, his eyes glued to the computer screen the entire time.

The boy in question also didn't attempt to make any move from his lying position on the futon, his eyes glued as well to a screen, this one displaying a two cartoon characters fighting in some sort of final showdown. He had wondered how long it would take before the bald man questioned him on why he'd remained at home.

"I'm still suspended for three more days." Kaiyo answered in an equally bored tone and twirled one of his many brown dreads in his index finger before letting it fall down.

"Oh. Ok." Accepting the response, Saitama went back to what he'd been distracting himself with before another thought invaded his mind. A more dangerous thought. "Wait, did you tell your mom?"

"Nope. Are you going to?"

"…Dunno."

In actuality none of the males wanted to break the news Kaiyo had been suspended yet again in such a short amount of time. The boy had the proclivity to fight at the slightest provocation and that didn't bode well for him when it came to getting along with select school bullies although it also didn't go well for the ones trying to beat him up, since the boy always won. But none of that impressed his mother.

Lola was the only working parent in the family, having landed a job as a hostess in a bar some years ago and deciding she absolutely loved interacting with costumers, aside from being paid to drink that was, hence why she wasn't home at the moment. The woman was very beautiful, long albino hair, great body and very laid back in personality… that was until she got mad. If someone looked into her eyes they would be able to see her going from zero to murder in a fraction of a second, sending chills down their very souls. Well, it might have had something to do with the fact she was a literal monster but that would be digressing for now.

Kayo thanked whatever gods there're were his father had developed such a laid-back personality after those years when he'd pushed himself to become stronger. It seemed that having become undefeatable had taken a drastic toll on the man's view of the world.

"See, this is why I like you. I wish mom was more relaxed, like you." He said, remembering the last time his mother had found out he'd been suspended. Losing videogame privileges had not been fun.

"Don't let her hear you say that, she'll have both our heads."

"Whatever."

Turning his attention back to the news, Saitama noted that things seemed to be getting more and more complicated in A-City. Buildings collapsed left and right and people evacuated as fast as they could as explosions continued to shake the ground with greater intensity each time. The broadcaster had a terrified look on his face as he reported on the events while wearing a protective helmet and shrinking on himself with evident fear that something would fall on top of him. He continued to go on about how the Hero Association was still underway with sending help when the transmission was cut off and nothing but static could be seen or heard.

It looked like a hero was needed. And the monster seemed very strong as well.

"I guess I'll go." Saitama said.

Getting up from his seat, the bald man exchanged his pajamas for a yellow one-piece jumpsuit, a white cape, red gloves and boots and a black belt with a round golden buckle. Sometimes he wondered if he looked too weird in his hero outfit, but he'd accepted it from the old man and he'd been so proud to see his masterpiece be put to use… Whatever, it wasn't time to think back to the past, anyway, he needed to get going to A-City and see if that monster was stronger than all the others.

Straightening up his cape, Saitama walked up to the entrance and opened the door, ready to finally meet his match.

"Hey, dad…" Kaiyo called, sitting up on his futon to look at the man heading out. "You still look ridiculous in that getup. Also, could you stop by the supermarket and get me those chips I like?"

An insult to his costume and a request for snacks. He'd be more upset if he wasn't used to it by now. "I'll see if they're on sale. See ya, Kaiyo."

"Thanks!" The boy shouted as the door closed behind his father. Chuckling to himself, he stretched out on the futon, putting his hands behind his head, letting the sun warm his golden dark skin. "Man, I sure pity the bastard that runs into him."

Yep, it was just another normal boring day.

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**AN: So, what did you think? By the way, can anyone tell who is the son? It is kinda obvious but I just had to do it XD**


	2. Mosquitoes and musings

The sun shone during the warm Saturday morning on all of Z-City. As usual the abandoned area was quiet except for the call of a few birds and the protests of a young boy.

"Mom, I wanna watch cartoons!"

"Let me watch the news first, then I'll change the channel back."

"Oh, come on! We all know what they're saying, destruction here, catastrophe there, monster sightings everywhere… it's always something like that. What doesn't happen often is a special episode debut of Gatling Fighter where he teams up with Armageddon Devil." Kaiyo pleaded with his mother, giving her the best puppy-eyed look he could muster. When that failed, he turned to the kitchen where his father was filling up the watering can. "Dad, do something!"

"…Listen to your mom." Saitama said, also interested in hearing what type of destruction was upsetting the daily lives of people in the continent that time.

The eleven year-old crossed arms and huffed. It was a Saturday and weekends were meant to be spent at home doing nothing but eating snacks and watching all his favorite shows, sometimes taking advantage of the fact that his parents went out together and did whatever it was adults did on weekends. He honestly didn't care and didn't want to know, hoping it would remain that way for the rest of his life. There were some suspicions he absolutely loathed to have confirmed.

Conforming to the fact there was no way to go against his parents, Kaiyo sat down and leaned back against the low table. Maybe he'd at least get some entertainment from the information block that was airing. They were reporting news about an unusually high outbreak of mosquitoes that year and seemed to have invited some sort of expert with several books on the insects in question. The man was welcomed and sat down alongside the news anchors, turning to the camera with a stern face that somehow all scientists that appeared on TV appeared to have.

"Let's get straight to the point." The doctor began, nodding to the camera. "These mosquitoes belong to an entirely new species. Therefore I know nothing about them."

Well… that was something you didn't hear every day.

"Get out!" The newscaster quickly responded, pointing away to the backstage. "Ah, excuse me. Now, let's take a look at the areas likely to be hit hardest by the outbreak." A map that depicted the path the swarm seemed to be taking came up on the screen while the man continued describing the events that could be causing such unusual behavior.

"Man, Z-City's in their path." Saitama commented while heading out to the balcony. Putting on his slippers, he knelt down and began watering his favorite cactus. "Now we've got a mosquito outbreak. What's next?"

"We have lived through worse. Remember those acid slimes that began coming out of the sewers shortly after we moved in?" Lola pointed out.

"Yeah, I almost got my suit ruined that time."

"We interrupt this program for breaking news!" The newscaster on TV was handed a piece paper with some information written on it. "A large swarm of mosquitoes has been sighted in Z-City. Mummified remains of farm animals have also been found. If you encounter a swarm of mosquitoes, flee immediately!"

The albino woman sighted and sat down next to her son, crossing her legs and letting a sour expression take over her face. "Too bad, I wanted to go out and buy some ingredients for a hotpot… Now I bet all the supermarkets are closed."

Saitama continued listening to the news as he mused on the hotpot idea. Maybe he could go somewhere outside Z-City and get the ingredients, but he didn't know of any places that were on sale at the moment. Maybe they could wait until one week from then when his favorite store had a special event sale and eat hotpot then.

The bald man was still watering his cactus when a mosquito landed on his hand, bringing him out of his musings. Lifting up his other hand, he aimed carefully and swatted the tiny insect. There. He hated those annoying little buzzing creatures more than he cared to admit. But, why could he still hear it? Unless…

The insect flew away unscathed, as if to mock the hero for fun. So, the annoying mosquito wanted to play, did it?

Lola looked around when she began to hear what she thought were nearby small explosions. "Wait, are you hearing that?" She turned to her son with a questioning look.

"I think it's dad." Kaiyo said.

The boy got up and drew back the curtains so the two could see Saitama appearing and disappearing at lightning speed on the balcony while chasing a small flying bug and failing each and every time. Both of the sweatdropped at the sight of the usually calm man acting like a hyper child chasing after a mosquito that wouldn't stay still.

"Huh, your dad sure does hate those."

Suddenly the bald man grabbed a spray bottle of insect killer and jumped out of the balcony, shouting something about damn mosquitoes, leaving his wife and son flabbergasted at his actions.

"Did he just ditch us to chase after a stupid bug?" Kaiyo pointed outside while turning to look at his mother.

Shaking her head, the woman got up and began walking towards the kitchen. The breakfast dishes were still on the sink and someone had to do them. "Sometimes I wonder if I don't understand humans in general or just him."

"Same. Now, can I get my cartoons back?"

Noticing she still had the remote in her hand, Lola threw it in the air above her son. "Sure."

One of the boy's brown dreads seemed to come alive and shot up at the remote, wrapping around it and bringing it back to Kaiyo, who closed the curtains and sat back down against the table. Another one pressed a button and the TV went back to displaying the Adventures of Gatling Fighter, much to the pleasure of the young monster boy.

Lola looked at her son and smiled. Opening the tap, she began filling up sink with warm water while musing on her family, on how Saitama had changed ever since he'd stopped being a regular salaryman to dedicate himself to being a hero and defeating all monsters that he encountered. Well, almost all of them. There was no doubt if the two of them went against each other she would likely come out defeated, or at the very least with grave injuries that would take long to heal, even with her sped-up healing abilities she'd inherited from her mother. Maybe one day Saitama would even train Kaiyo to be just as strong as his father.

A monster hero. Now that made her want to laugh a little bit but also brought up some memories back to her mind. Her mother had wanted to help people but her actions had been perceived as other wise and that was what got her killed in the first place.

Maybe one day, but for now Lola had to decide what lunch was going to be since Saitama had excused himself so out of the blue.


	3. Meet the family (and the enemies)

Lola had seen a small some things in her life that made her wonder how many stars aligned to make an unusual occurrence happen. There had been that one time when one of coworkers tripped with a platter filled with drinks and somehow managed not to spill a drop, much to everyone's surprise, that one time when she tripped on a banana in a supermarket and fell on top of a handsome salaryman, who would later become her husband, and even that awkward night when her son's principal ended up in the bar she worked at. But the woman had though that nothing could top her husband getting home buck naked after having disappeared chasing a mosquito.

When Saitama showed up at the apartment in his birthday suit Lola had become speechless, while Kaiyo quickly covered his eyes and excused himself to go outside, and had quickly pulled her husband inside, thanking the heavens they didn't have any neighbors to see him in such a state. From his explanation there had been some sort of giant mosquito woman controlling the swarm that had been reported on the news and a cyborg that picked a fight with her before the hero for fun swatted the monster against a building, killing her and dispersing the smaller bugs. When asked why exactly he was naked, Saitama only shrugged and stated that the cyborg had caused a fiery explosion and burned everything away, including the clothes he'd been wearing.

Well, a week had passed, life had moved on and everything went back to what was considered normal. So why was someone ringing the doorbell and calling out for their sensei?

Saitama had rushed to the door under the confused looks of his wife and son, having been readying himself to go out in his hero uniform and find some monsters to fight, and opened it to be confronted by the same cyborg he'd seen be torn to shreds by the giant mosquito he'd killed a week prior.

The bald man couldn't tell if he should be impressed by the cyborg's perseverance or annoyed that he'd actually followed through with his request. "You really showed up. Uh…"

"It's Genos, Saitama-sensei." The blond promptly answered.

"Could you start by not calling me sensei?"

"Shishou!"

"Don't call me that either!"

"Saitama, who's at the door?" A woman's voice came from inside the apartment.

"No one!"

"It doesn't sound like no one." Suddenly the door opened all the way and the here was pushed aside for his wife to greet their visitor, a wide smile on her face. "Why, hello! My name's Lola, it's nice to meet you, Saitama told me about last week. My, you look so young, even for a cyborg. Would you like to come inside for some tea?"

"What?! Don't invite him in!" Saitama protested and pointed at the cyborg.

"Why not? If he came all the way over here the least we could do is offer him something to drink. Where's your hospitality?"

"…Fine."

With that word, Lola grabbed Genos' hand and enthusiastically pulled him inside, stating that she'd already been brewing a pot of tea, and pushed the cyborg to sit at the table right in front of Kaiyo.

"Make yourself at home, this is our son, Kaiyo, and he knows to behave around visitors."

"We'll see." The boy smirked and crossed his arms.

"Kaiyo!"

"Fine, I'll behave."

Genos looked around the small apartment, taking in its semi-tidy semi-messy state, noting on the lack of the feeling that a family indeed lived there and it instead belonged to a single man. Sure, there were a few photos hanging on the walls depicting a wedding, the three together and some with only the young boy, but the ambiance lacked that feeling he'd grown accustomed to growing up alongside his own family. Still, something seemed a bit off.

A cup filled with hot tea was placed in front of him, bringing the cyborg out of his thoughts and to the man that had sat down on the other side of the table and that had his apparent wife leaning against him, out of bounds of the small table.

"Go home after you drink. I'm not looking for disciples." Saitama said with his usual bored look, but then remembered what had happened with the mosquito woman the week prior. "Wait, you're back in one piece?"

"Yes, my body is mostly mechanical. As long as there are parts, repairs are quick." Genos nodded and picked up his cup, taking a sip of the warming liquid in it.

"You're an odd one."

Kaiyo chuckled while leaning back, supporting his weight on his hands. "Says the man that apparently offered to be a sensei to a young-adult cyborg."

"What kind of parts do you use, sensei?"

"I don't use any."

"Then what about the skin-colored armor on your head?"

Both Kaiyo and Lola had to suppress a laugh at the question.

"No, that's my skin."

"But that would mean you're bald despite being so young." The cyborg mused, thinking to himself what could have caused such premature balding to his sensei.

"So, I'm bald, what's your problem?!"

Lola held her husband back, pulling him down when he showed signs of wanting to get up and get in the young-adult's face. "Saitama! I'm sure he didn't mean it like that."

"Me? You'll listen to my problems?" Inquired Genos, memories immediately flooding to his brain. The memories that he clung onto like a lifeline to remind him of his purpose in life and that kept him going all those years.

"No, thanks. I'm good." Deflating, the bald hero immediately wanted to spare himself what could be along boring story about someone else's life.

The albino woman elbowed Saitama with a tight smile and picked up her own mug. "Darling, I'm sure this nice young man would love to get some things off his chest. Go on."

"Actually, four years ago, when I was fifteen, I was still a normal human being. Although we had to pinch pennies, my family lived fairly peaceful and happy life. But one day, a crazy cyborg went out of control and attacked our town. He destroyed everything in sight, taking everyone's lives, including my family's. Miraculously I survived, but I was still a helpless fifteen year-old, and found myself in a ruined town at the end of my strength. That's when Doctor Kuseno happened to pass through in a mission to stop the crazy cyborg. I asked him to perform a body modification surgery on me, that's how I was reborn as a cyborg who fights for justice. I promised to Doctor Kuseno that one day I would stop the evil cyborg."

"I see-" Saitama wasn't able to finish his sentence before being interrupted, which annoyed him to great ends.

"It's been four years since that day. I'm now nineteen and have been wandering from town to town, eliminating evil. I have destroyed countless monsters and criminal organizations but been unable to find any clues pertaining to the evil cyborg and have become increasingly frustrated and restless. Still, I must continue to fight evil as a righteous cyborg until he appears before me once day. I need to become stronger. Last week, when I saw your attack, I knew I had to study under you as your disciple. If only I could become as strong as you, Saitama-sensei! I realize I am still inexperienced, but I must continue to avenge my family, avenge my town, and I owe you my life, as such-"

"Enough, you idiot! Keep it to twenty words or less!" He couldn't take it anymore!

"Saitama!" Lola admonished her husband for his outburst.

"Thank you!" Kaiyo, on the other hand, had been on the verge of either falling asleep or punching the blond just to keep himself awake. He would be lying of he said he hadn't been leaning towards the second one.

A few moments of silence reined while the cyborg thought on what to say to compel such a strong hero to accept him as his disciple. He clearly hadn't been swayed by the story, so another approach had to be made. Maybe something more direct, since it seemed that it was what he was after.

"Please, teach me how to become strong like you." Placing his hands on the table, the cyborg pleaded to the man sitting in front of him.

"Nine words, not bad." The eleven year-old noted with a nod.

Musing for a second, Saitama thought up a question. "Genos, how old are you?"

"He just said he was nineteen!" Lola facepalmed. Her husband could be such an airhead. Still, she couldn't deny that whole story was becoming just a tad too boring for her taste as well.

"Oh. I see. So young. I'm sure you'll surpass me in no time."

"Do you mean that?!" Emotion filled up the cyborg's body as he thought of becoming stronger and finally finding and defeating the one that had caused him so much pain.

"I'm sure. I was twenty-two in the beginning of my training and am now twenty-five. Sure, I'll teach you, but it won't be easy. Can you handle it?"

"Yes!" Just after that word left Genos' mouth, he was up and alert, his radar having picked up on something. "Object approaching at high speed. It's here."

The family of three had no idea on what the blond was talking about when the balcony wall exploded and a mantis-like creature burst in though the destruction.

"Kekekeke. My name is-" The monster had no time to finish his sentence when a punch broke his skull into pieces, splattering green blood and brain matter on the nearby wall that hadn't been torn down, tarnishing a particular picture.

"Gah! Our wedding photo!" Lola cried out.

"There are two more outside. Sensei, leave them to me." Genos said and ran up to jump through the hole in the wall.

The cyborg was more than ready to get rid of pests that dared to annoy his sensei, but when he landed he was surprised to see the bald here had already gotten down and punched the two monsters down head first into the ground, burying them up to their waits in the sidewalk.

Up above, Kaiyo and Lola watched the show down below, becoming especially interested when Saitama was pulled down and only his head remained above ground. It wasn't often that they saw the man fight so close to home, usually only hearing the cries of the monsters that were unfortunate enough to run into him during his walks to and from the apartment. They watched as he remained calm, as he normally did, and made no motion to try and free himself, not that it would prove much of a trouble, if they were being honest, and exchanged a few words with Genos.

Soon enough an explosion rocked the nearby area and what looked like a large robot (or was it a cyborg?) appeared and picked a fight with the young blond man.

"Whoa, look at them go." Commented Kaiyo. "That guy sure knows what he's doing. You think one day he'll become as strong as dad?"

"Maybe. Your dad somehow broke the human limitations and gained immeasurable strength with only his training and willpower, no enhancements or powers to the mix." Lola clearly remembered how her husband was before the experience with the crab monster that had set him off in a journey to become stronger. "Hey look, is that a monster lion? And a… mole?"

Shifting his gaze to his father, the boy took in the large monster with jungle-themed clothes that had appeared and the clearly smaller brown one that emerged from below ground. "Oh. I guess it is."

"Seriously, what could they want with those two?"

"They could be after Genos. They did appear just after he did. Well, I don't know how long that boring spiel took, but yeah, just after him."

The ground continued to shake as the two cyborgs continued fighting what looked like a thrilling fight, two machines against each other, the raw power pouring out of them in almost visible waves every time they clashed. It was clear neither intended to give up and let their adversary get the best of them, both having been enhanced to fight and tear through their opponents like a knife through butter, doing their best to prove who was superior and worthy of being called a fighting machine.

"I think he tries too hard." The albino woman mused out loud.

"You too?"

"Well, poor guy see his family killed and boom, wants revenge and won't stop until he gets it."

Kaiyo thought for a moment and ran a hand though his dreads. "I didn't want to say it, but that sounds so cliché. What do you think he's gonna do when he finds out about us? I mean, dad pretty much said he's train him."

"If he finds out about us. If. And should it ever happen and Genos turns on us I'll be the first one to tear him limb from limb and giving him a lake burial from which he can never return."

"Whoa, you're scary when you talk like that."

"You've got your grandma to blame for that." Lola didn't have many memories of her mother, but there was one or the other that involved the older woman confessing to having done some hurtful things to keep them safe.

Before any of them could say anything else there was a splash and a few droplets of a red substance it them. Looking down it was obvious who had won the fight, Saitama, of course, and it turned out that the red droplets had been the blood of the big lion monster who had been punched into an early grave by the bald man. Even Genos had even managed to defeat the other cyborg he'd been up against and unmask it, revealing some sort of gorilla, although his side of the imaginary battlefield ended up with huge holes in the road.

"Cool. I'm gonna go check it out." Kaiyo made a run for the door, throwing it open and almost gliding down the stairs in excitement.

It wasn't often the boy had the opportunity to be near monsters that could cause such a caliber of destruction, he mostly only saw the lowest class of them around, Tiger, and when any of them gave him some trouble he had no issue with taking them out swiftly and quietly, well, apart from their scream upon finding out he was no ordinary vulnerable young human boy.

When he arrived downstairs, Kaiyo ran up to his father and the two cyborgs, noting that the bigger one had taken a clear and good thrashing to be missing all of his limbs and having dented the wall of the building very clearly. The gorilla was talking about some sort of scientist who went mad and began experimenting with life and death or whatever and oh no, was it going to be another one of those long and over expositional stories again?

"This is taking too long!" Saitama exclaimed with an annoyed face. "What's this got to do with me? You're just trying to act cool again! Just get to the point, ok? Oh, Kaiyo, you're here too? Whatever, as long as you're not in trouble."

Genos noted on the presence of the younger boy, but made no mention to it, regarding the subject in question to be a more pressing matter. Raising his hand, he aimed a blaster at the injured cyborg. "My sensei is a very busy man. Summarize it in one hundred and forty characters or less."

"Oh. Sorry." The armored gorilla sweatdropped. He did not want to end up in a junkyard. "So, in other words, my boss has developed a keen interest in your body."

"I don't swing that way. And I'm married."

"Sensei, I think you misunderstood. He plans to use your body, which surpasses normal human limitations, for his research on evolution. If we don't do something, I'm sure he'll attack us again. Our next move should be to attack him."

"Sure, let's go." Saitama agreed and began walking away.

"Wait, now?!"

Taking out a red flyer, the hero for fun waved it in the air. "Yeah, there's a sale on tomorrow, can't do it then."

Grabbing onto his father's white cape, the eleven year-old tugged to get the older man's attention. "Hey, dad, can I come with?"

"Ask your mom."

"Fine. Hey, mom!" He shouted, looking up at their balcony. He watched as she looked down and could almost see that little eyebrow raise that she sometimes did.

"What?!" Lola yelled from her place up high.

"Can I go with dad to see him fight more monsters?"

"Sure, just be back by dinnertime!"

Genos could only stare as father and son walked away, not caring that they were about to enter the lair of someone who made deadly creatures for a living. Never mind that it was no place for a little boy, even if he had someone as skilled as his sensei to protect him from any monster that might show up.

Could it be that there was something else he wasn't catching onto?


	4. Show of strength

**AN: I was asked what Kaiyo and Lola looked like by a reviewer. Kaiyo's appearance is pretty similar to Doug's from GANGSTA and Lola somewhat resembles Mira Armstrong from FMA but, you know, happier and with white hair. Maybe I'll draw them in the future but, for now, this is the best I've got.**

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Somewhere up in the mountains, away from any sort of civilizations, two blurs of movement darted between the trees and over any boulders they came across, never once hesitating in their path to find the place they were looking for.

"Erm, dad, I think you just ran over a bear." Kaiyo remarked, having felt a bump in the 'road' and gotten the feeling of flying fur brush along his arms. His father had offered to give him a piggyback ride due to the fact the young boy didn't have what it took to keep up with both men.

"Oh. Not my fault it got in the way." Saitama answered with his characteristic detachment.

"How long have we been going for, anyway? I think I dozed off halfway though."

"I didn't think we'd be running the whole way." Genos, who was running alongside his sensei, was a little confused as to why they had been trekking the entire time instead of taking another faster approach.

"How else are we gonna get there?"

"I was sure you could fly or something along those lines, sensei."

"Humans can't fly, you know."

"It's amazing that you are never late. You are a true hero."

"Actually, I ever hardly arrive on time."

"Mom sometimes gets late too, I think. At least that's what she yells at dad. Then she gets all panicky and for some reason goes out in a hurry." The brown-haired boy remarked with a questioning look, not really sure on what his mother's disappearing act had to do with the fact she was 'late' for whatever it was.

Saitama got some color on his face and sweatdropped. "…I don't think Genos was talking about that."

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Lola sneezed. Someone must have been thinking about her. Shrugging it off she went back to staring at the array of paint buckets presented in the aisle of the store, more specifically, the whites. Why did everything nowadays had to come with a hundred shades that looked so similar and yet so different at the same time?

After deciding she couldn't take it anymore of staring at the hole in the wall of her apartment the albino woman had collected her purse and taken a trip to her favorite hardware store, the one from where she always got everything she needed to fix any mishaps caused around home by her husband's strength. Like the hole in the floor cause by a punch to the alarm clock or the broken windows when he'd decided to jump down without checking if they were open.

Now, if she could only remember what color were their walls... They had a greyish undertone but it wasn't grey oh why was it so hard and mainly boring to shop for repairs?! Lola had never had any patience to deal with details that apparently a lot of wives loved to put into consideration when decorating their homes, preferring to let Saitama do whatever he felt like it when it came to the appearance of their apartment. It was easier to just let it organically flow and come together, occasionally throwing in something of her own.

Deciding on 'calming steam', the name alone making her want to roll her eyes at the name of the color, the woman picked up a large bucket, swung by the heavy construction aisle to pick up a bag of cement (the bricks she could steal from other buildings back in the abandoned area of Z-City) and headed out to the register.

"Excuse me, I'd like to take this bag of cement and this bucket of paint." She said, unceremoniously dropping her two items on the counter as if they weighted nothing. Well, they did, to her a least.

The employee, startled by the impact, almost jumped in the air and gawked at the pretty woman standing before him. "Eh! So- So strong!" He said, eyes bulging.

The guy must have been new, Lola assumed, to be impressed by her strength. She'd walked out of there carrying piles of wood to make shelves and fix their floor in the past. "Oh, I guess I am… But I really need to hurry up before my husband gets home for dinner. It's my turn to cook."

After paying, with the bag of cement hoisted over her shoulder and the paint bucket in hand, Lola stepped outside and looked around. The streets weren't that crowded for a Saturday but there were still a number of people walking around, making her feel a little uncomfortable. It wasn't often that a woman was seen lugging around heavy supplies, drawing a few stares here and there.

Her parents had always told her to be proud of who she was, no matter what other people thought, but that had been mostly because she wasn't very much like other children. In fact, she had to be assure that just because others her age didn't have white hair, or claws, or a third eye it didn't mean she was any less than anyone else, even if she had to always present a human front to all humans she encountered.

"Pardon me, a lady should not be carrying such heavy supplies on her own." A gentle voice stopped Lola in her tracks.

Turning around, the albino woman saw a tall and lean-built young man with messy, shoulder-length light blue hair and wearing fashionable clothes smiling at her. He was extending a hand as a sign of offering his help to what appeared to be her arduous task of carrying her supplies, most likely assuming she could be struggling with such heavy items.

She knew him from somewhere… Oh yes, from that TV novella she sometimes watched. "You're that hero guy, Amai Mask, right?"

"Indeed I am. Allow me to help you, as a hero I cannot stand by while allowing such a beautiful flower to do heavy lifting."

"Yeah, no thanks. I gotta get home to fix my wall and you'd only get in the way."

The man looked slightly taken back by the refusal but he persisted. "Still, it pains my heart to witness a maiden have to do such gruff work as-"

"I'm stopping you right there before you say something you'll regret, not that you haven't said something already by implying I'm weak." Lola was getting really tired of this guy. She'd never met him before but something about him made be on edge. "I am perfectly capable of doing this, I didn't ask for any help and I swear to any god you may hold in your heart if I catch you following me you won't be so handsome anymore, got it?"

Her father, may his soul rest in peace, had been such a kind soul, something he had passed onto the woman during her youth. He'd taught her to always be polite and nice to other people as a way to make the world even if slightly better with a single action, but he might have definitely be rolling around in his tomb from the tone of his daughter's words.

Getting back on track, Lola resumed her path home, debating on whether or not to take the bus just to get away from Amai Mask. She didn't trust any person with that fake of a smile further than an infant could throw a rock and that lesson had been taught to her by her mother. The outside could be very misleading, no doubt about it, and she'd be damned to let that lesson go to waste on such an obvious case. Whatever lurked beneath that pretty painted outside could be very sinister if not threaded around cautiously.

Amai Mask could only watch as the white-haired woman walked away from him with a distinct urgency.

What a strange and unusual woman. It was almost as if she'd seen through his carefully crafted disguise.

* * *

"So, this is-"

"The House of Evolution."

The three males stared at the moss-covered thin skyscraper-like building located in the middle of nowhere, rising up from seemingly nothing and towering over them, almost showing what once could have been days of glory. It didn't look like much, there were no apparent defenses of any sort surrounding it, no armed guards whatsoever ready to throw down their lives to protect whatever was inside, all in all it just seemed like someone had built a tower and then abandoned it to the elements.

"You'd think that a supposed genius would have come up with a name that wasn't so obvious." Kaiyo jumped down from his father's back and took a few steps closer to the building, making a face when examining it.

"Not everyone can come up with a creative name, you know?" Saitama shrugged.

"Still… I was expecting a bit… more."

"Well, looks about eight stories high-"

Out of nowhere, Genos fired up his blasters and aimed directly at the tower, letting loose a blaze of flames that took it out in less than a second, leaving only destruction behind in a straight path of ashes and singed vegetation along with remains of the stone floor.

"Uh… what the hell was that?" The bald hero could barely blink at what had just happened, having been taken by surprise.

Genos looked at his sensei and cocked his head. "Well, I decided I would be most efficient to destroy them all in one blast."

"It really shows you really don't know how to have fun." The eleven year-old crossed his arms and stuck his tongue out at the charred remains. "We could have stormed the place and went through hordes of low-level minions and gotten to the boss room in a blaze of glory. Then the boss would explain all his evil plans and try to beat us but with our amazing strength we'd pummel it and save the world from its evil plans…"

"You do realize this is real life, not a videogame or an anime?"

"You sure suck the fun out of everything."

"Kaiyo is kinda right. At least we could have seen what the bad guys had in store for us." Scratching his head, Saitama agreed with his son. He didn't want to have made it that far for nothing.

"Hey, look!" Kaiyo pointed to what seemed to be a metal plate embedded on the floor. "Looks like there could be a basement. A dungeon level, then."

"It's likely not a dungeon but in actuality the real location of the House of Evolution." The blond cyborg corrected the boy.

"…I seriously need to show you some videogames, cyborg-man."

Jumping down to the ground-zero of destruction, the three made their way up to the piece of metal that stood out among the destruction, being mindful to try and find clues of what could be going on down under their feet. There were supposed to be strong fighters belonging to the House of Evolution and none of the males would be surprised to have one jump out of nowhere ready to deliver a deadly surprise attack.

Saitama bent down to pick up one of the corners of the sheet of metal and pulled it up with ease, almost as if he was removing the lid off a yoghurt cup. A set of stairs were revealed, leading deep underground with lights on either side of the walls, and not a sound could be heard emerging from wherever they led. None of them could know for certain how many more experiments could be waiting for them downstairs and if they were stronger than the monsters that had attacked them back at Z-City and while Saitama and Genos could afford some liberties Kaiyo had to remain under their protection.

The bald man went ahead, followed by his son and with Genos guarding the rear, and together they all stepped down into an almost dark hallways that appeared to stretch for a sizeable length. When they all got down there and began heading further in were no cages or test tubes, tesla coils or bloodstains littering the walls, only grey stone walls, dirty from time, with embedded lights running in one way.

"This basement is huge. I'm getting a little fired up." Saitama remarked with a smile.

"Saitama-sensei, may I ask you a question?" Genos asked out of nowhere, looking between the older man and the younger boy.

"Oh, sure, I guess."

"You said you were twenty-five, correct?"

"Yes."

"Then how come Kaiyo-san appears to be over ten years old?"

"I'm actually eleven." The boy took the lead over his father in responding to the blond. "And you don't need to add -san to my name, just Kaiyo is fine."

Shrugging, Saitama looked up to the ceiling, memories flowing back to his mind. "You're not the first one to notice that. He's adopted, that's all. It was Lola's idea to adopt him when we got married five years ago." She'd actually brought him home one day out of the blue and begged until he'd found a permanent residence as their son.

That had caught the cyborg by surprise. "You married when you were twenty? That is awfully young for modern standards."

"Mom does compensate with the five extra years she has over him. Although sometimes she gets a bit tipsy and then the scales kinda turn."

Genos suddenly stopped walking, his eyes widening. "Wait… I sense living beings deeper in… Sensei, two of them are approaching!"

The lights then began to shatter further up the hallway, almost as if it were a scene of a horror movie, taking their ability to see what was coming up at them at such an incredible speed and strength to be taking out the lightbulbs along its path.

"Oh, here we go! There are three, which one is it?" A deep male voice boomed, smugness rolling off it in waves.

"The one on the right!" Another, much lower one answered.

"In that case we don't need the other two!"

Kaiyo hid behind his father and clung to his waist in a flash, leaving Genos to be flattened against the wall by a fist at what seemed like the speed of a lightning. He wasn't taking any chances to get crushed and have an instant death on a random part of the woods that just so happened to be the location of an evil organization that produced combat monsters. He could hold his ground in many situations but he was also smart enough to know when the situation was way out his league.

The mysterious being appeared to drop a man just as he stopped just behind the father and son duo, its feet embedding onto the ground and raising stone, leaving deep indents on the pavement. It was a massive being, they noted, mostly humanoid looking but having a brown color-scheme and heavily resembling a rhinoceros beetle, complete with a thick exoskeleton and a large horn on his head. The man, on the other hand, seemed to have taken quite a beating, and not just from the fall, his clothes torn and bleeding in many places throughout his upper body, but he wasn't a priority at the moment.

"I am Carnage Kabuto!" The beetle-man proclaimed. "We've got a combat experimentation room. Let's take this there."

"You turned Genos into a piece of modern art." Saitama angrily pointed at his self-proclaimed disciple. "Bring it!"

The giant insect-man grabbed Saitama and headed off back through the way he'd came through at even a bigger speed than he'd came with, leaving the scientist, cyborg and boy behind.

"Sensei!" Genos yelled out and began chasing after the monster, not willing to let his first encounter with it end with a quick defeat, even if some of his parts had sustained a great amount of damage.

Genus propped himself on his elbows and watched as the cyborg headed off in search of Carnage Kabuto and the bald man that had defeated all his other creations, his jaw gritting as he forced his legs to respond and pick him up off the ground. He had to watch what was about to happen, it could very well be the greatest moment in all of his life and no amount of injuries and even the almost certainty that he would end up dead at the hands of his own creation could deter him from witnessing the pinnacle of his work in action, albeit if he considered it a failed experiment.

Humans were a faulty race, filled with garbage and inferior abilities that were not capable of propelling them forward in evolution for the longest of time. No matter how smart someone could consider themselves and be awarded with an infinite number of prizes he, Dr. Genus, would always best them in any field of science and his whole life's work was devoted to proving that he would be the one to give a push that would give birth to a chain reaction, creating a new race of human, one far superior to the current one.

He'd first come up with an artificial evolution at the tender age of fifteen, years after first having learned everyone aside of himself was a dumb animal, aimlessly walking through life until they perished and left nothing of worth behind. All that agony he had endured throughout his childhood of feeling miserable due to being the only person in the world gifted with actual intelligence would finally be put to use and drive him forward with an ardent passion to see his dream of a utopia filled with other equals come true. There had been numerous setbacks, mainly having to devote some of his time to research that would 'help' humanity in order to obtain the funds necessary for his main project and gain recognition to be accepted by the scientific community.

His awards meant nothing having come from those lesser than him, but he put on a fake smile every time he walked out onto a stage and recited some speech about how grateful he was, wishing that his day would come and everyone could finally see how his main goal would be the best thing for humanity. Alas, even though his genius was widely recognized, none of his ideas and theories received even the slightest support from the scientific community, not one single person ever coming forward to help him fulfil his plans. Genus was touted as a man with dangerous ideas concerning forcing humans to evolve through artificial means and denounced for even contemplating on going through his unethical experiments and eventually cast aside, meant to be forgotten and avoided at all costs.

Even in his abandoned state, the scientist did not quit, his anger only fueling the desire to be rid of those apes that happened to walk on two legs and could string words together. Decades went by, his body deteriorating but his mind remaining sharp, until one day, when he was just over seventy all his efforts began to yield results in one of the happiest days of his life. The first he he'd done was to regain his youth, after all a decrepit body would not do him any good among the gods he would create, then he cloned himself in order to possess an army capable of understanding the dimension of what he was about to bring onto the world and soon after created the House of Evolution, when he began running a wide array of experiments to give birth to the new species.

Now was the moment where it all came together. The moment when he could finally see all the fruits of his labor in action.

Standing at the entrance of the experimentation room, he leaned against the wall and watched as the cyborg appeared to have been bested once more, as he'd expected. He couldn't wait to see how the archaic state of human development fared against the pinnacle of artificial evolution, expecting a complete annihilation or, just maybe, a trigger for a new evolution.

"Ouch, Genos looks like he took quite a beating." Kaiyo commented as he approached from behind the man, hands behind his head, looking more relaxed than anyone should ever be around a monster such as Carnage Kabuto. "You the one that created that bodybuilder beetle?"

"Oh?" The voice brought Genus out of his thoughts and he stared down at the boy. He hadn't paid any attention to him, who'd apparently followed behind him all the way to the experimentation room. What an annoying brat. "This isn't a place for kids. Don't bother me."

"Please, you're about to fall over and piss your pants in fear. I can tell. Mom taught me how."

"Your mother?" Could that child be the offspring of the bald man? If so there could be a future in keeping it alive.

The eleven year-old felt his eye twitch and glared at the scientist. "Get that look off your face before I punch it off, old man."

"O- Old man?!"

Kaiyo saw his father take a step forward and his attention was diverted. "Shh, it's about to start."

The atmosphere changed as soon as Saitama began walking forward, hoping that he would finally meet someone who would not crumble before him with just one punch. The last two weeks had been very underwhelming, with either nothing happening or a monster here and there that caved in to his unnatural strength. Now there could be the chance that his opponent would put up a decent fight and reignite his passion for fighting, so this opportunity was not one to be wasted.

"Oh, I see it. I see it. You're supposed to be strong." Carnage Kabuto sneered. He'd take care of that shrimp quickly enough.

"Don't disappoint me now. You're this place's ultimate weapon, right? You're clearly not the same as the guys from this morning." Saitama had been able to tell since first laying eyes on him. "Look at you, just oozing with confidence."

With a gust of wind the beetle-man disappeared and reappeared behind the bald hero, ready to squash him into oblivion and show that idiot creator of his who was stronger, but a wave of power struck him just from the man's gaze and he instinctively retreated, flying back against the wall. What- What the hell had happened?! Even though the guy held himself hide open a feeling had gripped the monster's heart and almost crushed it in a vice grip. All of his instincts were screaming out danger, pushing him to leave the man alone and run away as far as possible.

Genos' only eye widened in surprise at the giant monster backing away just as quickly as he'd first struck him. His sensei hadn't done anything yet and already could be established as the most powerful out of the two. The core strength of the man must have been high enough to trip the danger sensors of a powerful being like the artificial creation of the House of Evolution, generating a wave of confidence dep inside the cyborg's being.

"He backed off? Carnage Kabuto backed off?!" Genus could not believe what he was seeing. His ultimate weapon hadn't taken the killing blow. But why?

"Of course he did." Kaiyo twirled one of his dreads without a care in the world, already knowing how the battle was going to end, a smirk painting his face. "Any self-worth monster can seize up their opponent before they make the first strike. Just look at him, he's like a cute little lamb staring at the big bad wolf."

"You bastard! How the hell did you get that strong?!" Carnage Kabuto screamed out, sweat pouring out of him in waves.

Saitama, realizing the fight might actually not turn out the way he expected after witnessing the monster's reaction, sighed. He'd gotten his hopes up for nothing but he could at least let them all know how he'd done it. "So, you wanna know too? Okay, fine. Genos, you listen carefully as well. First of all, you need to make sure you stick to this intensive training regimen and not give up, no matter how hard it gets."

"Oh whatever gods there may be, this is gonna be good. Massive hotpot for dinner followed by chocolate cake and ice-cream good." Kaiyo beamed, barely managing to contain his laugh. Those suckers were expecting some kind of mystical crap or some science mumbo-jumbo. He almost felt bad for them. Almost.

"One-hundred sit-ups, one-hundred push-ups, one-hundred squats and then a ten kilometer run every single day! No matter how tough it gets, you must never stop! In other words, you have to train like hell to the point where your hair falls out. That's the only way to become strong. Those guys messing around with evolution junk and trying to 'create a new human race' will never make it this far. Human beings are strong because we have the ability to change ourselves!"

Silence reined over the entire room, leaving the two baffled men and beetle-man to absorb what they'd just heard.

"Sensei…" Genos began, standing up to look at the man he swore to follow. "You are… so full of shit!" What kind of trick was his sensei playing?! "That's just standard strengths training! And it's not even that intense! Anyone could do it! I… I have to get stronger. I didn't ask to study under you so I could listen to your jokes! Saitama-sensei, your power is clearly beyond what you can achieve by just training your body. We want to know your true secret!"

"He's not lying!" They boy yelled out from his position by the door. "Believe me when I say that boring routine is all he did for the last three years. Bastard even refused to use the AC during winter and summer as well, almost drove me up the wall."

Out of the blue the monster began to laugh, his body growing huge veins and shedding parts of its chitin armor. "Oh, yeah? If you don't wanna tell your secret, so be it." He hadn't counted on using his ace in the hole but it was something no living creature could ever go against and survive.

"No, Carnage Kabuto, stop! You'll go on another rampage!" Genus pleaded, but it made no impact on his creation. He feared what could come out of 'that' being used, death and destruction taking the number one spot.

"I bet you aren't that stronger than me, anyway. But, since you pissed me off, I'm gonna annihilate you." His body changed colors to a deep purple with green veins, the teeth elongating into deadly points, the horn growing and developing spikes between his wings. He could feel it, the power surging through his veins, that rush that made him feel more alive than ever and send him into overdrive… "Carnage Mode! When I get like this, my thirst for death cannot be quenched and I lose control for a whole week! After I kill you, I'll head into town and go on a killing rampage until next Saturday! If you really are a strong here just try and stop me!"

Faster than any of the other times before, the mutated beetle-man began to punch Saitama with an amazing speed, the human being bounced around like a human super-ball from one end of the room to the other, never hitting the walls or the ground. It was a spectacle that had to be seen to be believed, a bald man withstanding the force of a being created to be an unstoppable powerhouse, merely remaining still as he flew through the air at incredible speeds, not one drop of blood ever making an appearance.

Was Saitama so hurt he could not move? Was he planning a course of action? Could he actually be wondering how to defeat Carnage Kabuto? No. He had only one sentence on his mind. Saturday was-

"-bargain day at the supermarket!" With a single punch green began to pour down from above, limbs and guts falling along with it. The man knelt down, grabbing onto his head and yelling out, never minding the giant he had just carelessly defeated with ease. "God dammit, I forgot the date!"

"Cool, it's raining blood again." Kaiyo smiled, enjoying the view of his father losing his marbles while at the same time ending a fight with a single punch. If this was how things went he had to go out with the man more often, the day had proved to be pretty entertaining.

Genus could not stop his jaw from hanging at the sight of his ultimate weapon having been so easily defeated. "What- What's wrong with this guy?"

"You know, sometimes I wonder that as well."

The scientist could barely wrap his mind around the fact that Carnage Kabuto was simply… gone! The whole upper half of the body had been completely rendered into pieces with what had looked like a single punch, nothing special about it except for the fact the impact had caused the death of the top fighter of the House of Evolution! How-? Why-? What-? Nothing made sense anymore! All he could do now was look at the remains of the monster he'd created and at the man kneeling down and yelling out in anguish about- about- something…

"I'm pretty sure he is upset about this." Genos neared the scientist and took out a red flyer to give him. It was an announcement of fifty percent off in all the items available with only Saturday as the day the promotion was valid. Going up to Saitama, he attempted to console him with an idea. "Sensei, the store closes at ten PM. It takes about four hours to get there, if we hurry we can make it."

"I can make it if I hurry?!" Quickly getting up with his spirits revived at the thought of making a delicious hotpot with half-price ingredients, Saitama lit up and began running towards the wall opposite the doorway they had come though. "Let's go, Genos! I'll go ahead, you bring Kaiyo back with you!"

"Yes, sensei." The blond cyborg ran back to grab the eleven year-old piggyback style and began running after Saitama.

"Whoa!" The boy laughed at being picked up and didn't mind that there would be another boring ride back home. He could do with a pre-dinner nap anyway. Turning back, he waved at Genus and stuck his tongue out playfully. "Bye, evil scientist dude! Better luck next time!"

A giant hole appeared in the wall, curtesy of the enthusiastic bald hero, letting the light of the disappearing sun shine through in an orange glow. It was, once again, a calm day. There was no monster rampaging, tearing everything down in its path and sowing death, only the singing of birds and the whisper of the wind.

Genus could only stare as all his life's work had crumbled before his very eyes. All of his research and hard work destroyed in one single, devastating blow, causing all hope for an artificial way to evolve mankind to go down the gutter. All this time he'd been convinced it were the others who had to change in order to fit his view of the world, but could it be that he had been the one to be in the wrong all along?

Maybe it would be best to leave evolution in the shelf for a while. A good long while.

Maybe he could open a takoyaki stand and live a simple life.


	5. A trip down memory lane

**AN: Thank you everyone who****'****s reviewed, favorited and followed this story so far! I have to say I am surprised with the reception this is getting but wow does it feel good to know people like my writing :) Any questions just leave a review or PM me at any time!**

* * *

Morning rolled around with the sun gently shining through the curtains of the only inhabited apartment in the abandoned area of Z-City, providing a comforting warmth that permeated the air.

Lola loved the lazy Sundays where she could wake up by her husband's side, cuddled together in a tender embrace. The previous night they had performed a very common routine for when Kaiyo decided to spend the night out and damn if she wasn't glad for the endless stamina the bald man had acquired during his hero training. She was only wearing his nightshirt and he only the matching pants, making it a perfect opportunity to get some more contact between their bodies, more specifically between her roaming hand and his perfect washboard abs. She hadn't married him for his physique but there was the need to admit that after he'd started training the attraction had grown towards his body, even with the bald head.

"Saitama-kun-" Lola whispered in her husband's ear, adding the suffix with a coo that promised a hidden agenda.

"Don't come asking to play rock, paper, scissors, with a booger on your finger!" Suddenly Saitama shot up to sit with a scared expression, knocking his wife out of the futon with the momentum of his movements.

"Gah!"

The hero paused to look at his surroundings with a confused look. "A dream?"

"And there goes the mood…" With a sigh the woman got up and went into the kitchen to start preparing breakfast. She felt like eating her frustration away anyhow.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Shrugging off Lola's actions, the bald man stretched and let out a yawn. He still felt disappointed about the whole House of Evolution thing and not having found a match for his strength and that translated in boredom. Sure, even if his heart had begun pounding when he remembered about the special sale of his favorite supermarket and during all the way he ran back to make it in time there was still something missing, mainly a worthy opponent in his life. It wasn't like he didn't appreciate his family, but there were some things he missed, like a good challenge that put to test the power he possessed.

Not wanting to keep thinking about subjects that bothered him, Saitama got up, picked up the remote and turned on the TV. Maybe, by some miracle, there was some news about an overpowered monster or band of monsters causing mayhem.

"A terrorist group responsible for the destruction calling themselves 'Paradisers' have destroyed a high-rise building in F-City." The newscaster announced as soon as the screen came to life, an image of a demolished building accompanying her. "The situation seems to be spiraling out of control. We have just learned the identity of their leader: B-class criminal Hammerhead who has been involved in several violent incidents in the past."

"I'm glad this time the humans are the ones causing destruction. Kinda makes me feel better about the world in general." Lola commented while stirring a bowl of eggs to make tamagoyaki.

Saitama went up to his wife and hugged her from behind, still feeling quite sleepy from having awoken so suddenly. "You just say that because you're a monster."

"Maybe, but I always love when the human race screws itself over. You gonna do something about these guys?"

"I don't know, sounds pretty boring."

"In addition to all their demands, all the group members have shaved heads, making them quite intimidating." That drew the attention of the couple, especially from Saitama. "Anyone who encounters a man with a shaved head on the street is advised to immediately flee."

Lola snorted and pointed at the screen with her thumb, shaking her head with amusement. "I wouldn't go out today if I was you. Anyone might mistake you for a Paradiser."

Meanwhile, the bald man was having a realization, thoughts rushing to his head at the speed of light. No, that couldn't be…! "They stole my look! I spend all this time trying to be a hero but if this goes on I'll be treated as a villain!" He had to stop those idiots at any cost!

Releasing Lola almost as if she was on fire, the hero went to grab his outfit in a fit of urgency. Quickly shedding his pajama pants and changing into the caped yellow one-piece jumpsuit, the thoughts continued to rush to his brain. All that work during the three previous years would go to waste if civilians associated his very recognizable trait as one belonging to an evil organization! Sure, he could kill monsters with ease but public perception of a hero was of great importance to be successful and beloved by all. If allowed to go on, those guys could mean he would be treated as a villain any time anyone spotted him outside!

"Wait, you're going out? What about breakfast?!" The woman pointed her chopsticks to the two salmon pieces already on their way to be cooked. That guy loved salmon, even more when it was gotten for cheap at a sale.

Finishing pulling on his right boot, Saitama rushed to the door with a quick wave, not even bothering to look back. "Don't need it, I've got some villains to smash! Later!"

The door was slammed shut and a crash was heard from the street down below, signaling Saitama had likely jumped instead of taking the stairs and also that there was a new hole in front of their apartment. Well, one more wouldn't make that much of a difference in that neighborhood, it wasn't like there were any neighbors to impress.

With a sigh Lola went back to cooking. From the looks of it she would be eating two breakfast portions. Not that she minded, but still, it would have been nice to know ahead of time he was gonna go out in a rush without the most important meal of the day.

"Sometimes I really don't understand him. Well, can't complain about keeping the mystery alive in our relationship."

Lola continued to work on the breakfast, her now double breakfast, and attempted to lose herself in the sounds and smells of the kitchen. She had clear memories of her childhood when the first meal of the day meant going down the stairs and greeting her parents with a smile, something she had taken for granted until it was too late. There were clear images still present in her mind of her father's cheerful invitation to sit at the table and of her mother's kind kisses on her temple as soon as she took a seat.

Her parents had met by chance of fate, or rather by the actions of Nephila, Lola's mother, but saying it was the universe bringing together two beings that would eventually fall enough was much more romantic.

The woman looked at the double portions of food with pride and was about to plate them and bring them to the table when a knock interrupted her actions.

"Sensei!" A familiar voice came from the other side of the door.

Begrudgingly leaving the hot breakfast behind, Lola went to open the door to the blond cyborg she was sure was standing in the hallway and expecting to talk to her husband.

"Genos, it's nice to see you." She said, taking note of the fact that he was back in one piece from his encounter with… Butcher something? Slaughter… Oh, Carnage whatever his name was!

The young man was surprised to see Lola answer the door in a too big night shirt that was clearly not hers but paid no mind to it. "Excuse me for bothering you, is Saitama-sensei home?"

"I'm sorry, you just missed him. He went out to take care of some business but he should be back in no time."

"I see, I'll take my leave then."

"So soon?" A thought occurred to her. Maybe she didn't have to spend the morning all by herself. "Tell me, have you had breakfast yet?"

"No, as a cyborg I do not require food as sustenance, so I find myself skipping most meals."

"Well, if you're going to be hanging around there's a rule you must always follow: no one goes hungry on my watch. So get your metal behind in here because you're having breakfast with me."

"I would hate to be a bother-" Genos wasn't allowed to even finish his sentence as a hand was lifted in front of his face.

"Tell you what, you eat my husband's breakfast and help me with lunch and I tell you stories about Saitama." The albino woman scattered some bait in the proverbial waters, knowing the young man would likely not want to pass up the opportunity.

"…I would very much enjoy having breakfast with you."

Hook, line and sinker, hurray for her!

"That's what I thought."

Entering the small apartment, Genos noticed that the hole made by the mantis-like monster the previous day was already fixed and painted over, making it appear as if there had never been a break-in in the first place. He knew that Saitama had been out late busy with shopping, so the only reasonable explanation was that Lola was the one likely to have something to do with the patch-up job. It was rather unusual to see a civilian exhibit such dexterity to take up a job of that dimension but something told Genos that the woman was more than met the eye, after all, she was married to possibly the most powerful man in the planet.

Could it be that she also possessed his sensei's strength?

Looking around, the cyborg also noticed something was amiss. Or rather, someone. "Has Kaiyo-san also went out with sensei?"

The question made Lola pause on her way to the kitchen, her brain trying to come up with an excuse for her son's absence.

The eleven year-old sometimes spent the night out of the apartment out of his own volition, usually on weekend nights. Where exactly Lola didn't know but he always came back home the next day so she wasn't too worried about him, but she couldn't say that to Genos, as it would only raise questions that she did not feel like answering. Mainly because they could lead the cyborg to a conclusion she had to avoid at all costs.

"No, he went to sleep at a friend's house but he'll be back, so don't worry about him." Resisting the urge to sigh at the quickly thought up answer, Lola looked down only to see her bare legs. Oh, right, she was still only in her husband's clothes. Not exactly fit to receive a visitor. "Oh, erm, could you please turn around? I need to change clothes and also seem to have forgotten that I don't have any underwear on."

"Y-Yes ma'am!"

Putting on a pair of jeans along with a yellow baggy shirt, and underwear, she could not forget about underwear (!), as fast as she could in order to avoid any more awkwardness with the young adult in her apartment, Lola then cheerfully announced she was finally decent and headed into to the kitchen to pick up two trays filled with plates of steaming hot and delicious food.

"For today we have miso soup, salmon, rice, tamagoyaki and natto."

Placing the meal in front of the cyborg, who had already taken a seat at the table, Lola checked to see if everything was there and then sat down in front of Genos, picking up her pair of chopsticks with an excited face. The first bite of food of the day, it was indeed a magical moment that gave her an enormous satisfaction and made water grow in her mouth. Especially the natto. She just loved natto.

"You made all of this?" Genos curiously asked as he picked up his own utensils and the bowl of fresh, fluffy rice.

"Yep. I like making breakfast. It reminds me of watching my dad putting it together back when I was younger. Mom's specialty were more, erm, 'meaty' dishes, so dad handled most of the meals we ate and taught me everything he knew. I mostly just cook on weekends since I work during the week, but my husband's cooking isn't bad either."

"If I may ask, what you do for a living? From my understanding Saitama-sensei doesn't currently have a job and a family of three does need some financial support."

"I was starting to wonder when you'd ask me that question. I'm a hostess at a bar near Z-City's center."

"I see. With your appearance it suits to say you would be hired to work in such a profession but, from what Kaiyo-san stated yesterday, you are at least thirty years old which is characteristically older than the average age of a female in your area."

"You know, any regular woman would feel insulted if you implied in the slightest she is old." Lola winked and stuck her tongue out in a playful manner. That cyborg really had no tact when it came to subtlety. "Lucky you, I take pride in my age, just like my mother taught me. Since a hostess isn't required to disclose her age to the clients I can pass for a younger age with no problems. I can handle my alcohol, sing karaoke and even pretend to be interested in the most boring of subjects you can imagine, so I won't be going anywhere for a while, especially since I decided to settle here with Saitama."

She really did enjoy her work line, even if sometimes it could get a little repetitive with the salarymen coming in and complaining about their bosses and coworkers while ingesting copious amounts of alcohol. It wasn't like she blamed the men for having such mundane jobs, her own husband had been one of them at some point, but sometimes Lola wondered if she could see herself doing anything else that didn't involve taking advantage of her good looks in order to get a patron to buy her drinks in order to get paid a percentage of the sales she made. Then again, the money was nice and the other women were pretty friendly…

Saitama had never expressed any concerns about the type of work Lola had chosen to get involved in, after all he trusted her and did not mind the extra income, especially after he'd quit to train and become a hero, making them not having to rely only on their savings to get by.

"You and sensei have been married for long?" The blond asked, making Lola snap out of her thoughts.

Damn, she tended to wander in the past more and more these days.

"I don't know if it's considered long but it's five years and counting. Saitama proposed out of nowhere and my heart pushed me to say yes. He didn't care I was older or that we'd been dating for only a short amount of time and, honestly, neither did I."

"I would like to know, was he any different before managing to possess such strength?"

"Like you wouldn't imagine. Just an average salaryman until he went against a crab monster and suddenly he wanted to be a hero. You should have seen the determination in his eyes, all that passion to become stronger… I still get chills down my spine every time I picture it." That brought a blush to Lola's face as she gushed about her husband. "Even if he mellowed out I don't care, I know he still loves me and Kaiyo, he just has a harder time expressing himself."

"Speaking of his training, yesterday he said it was a mere one-hundred sit-ups, one-hundred push-ups, one-hundred squats and then a ten kilometer run every day. I have a hard time believing it. To have amassed that much power something else must have been at play."

"Now there is something I also don't have the answer to. I know about the training but if he said that was all he did it must be true, Saitama wouldn't really have a reason to lie about it."

So, it would seem that not even his sensei's wife had a response to the question of where all his power had come from. "Even so, I have a hard time believing it. To go from a normal human to possessing the strength to defeat enemies in one punch something must have happened to give him this gift. I promised myself that I would get strong enough to defeat the cyborg that destroyed my village and killed my family, stopping it from causing any more damage, and to do so I need to get as strong as sensei."

"You really have a strong sense of justice, Genos. All I can say is never to give up on what you hold dear to your heart and if that thing is stopping a murderous cyborg so be it, but try and enjoy life every once in a while. Time doesn't stop and you're still young." He was awful young to have a vendetta but, given the circumstances, Lola didn't say anything about it. "But enough about sad things, I invited you in with the promise of stories about Saitama, so help me clear the table and you can ask away."

* * *

After all the breakfast dishes were washed and put away Lola began telling stories to Genos about Saitama's days before becoming a hero. She didn't think he would be all that interested in learning about their first date, or the times she had to care for her husband when he came home exhausted from his training during the first year, but the cyborg had even taken out a notepad to take notes on what she thought were random things. Who cared that much about the brand of the blue track suit Saitama had first work? It was a little weird but Lola was loving the trip down memory lane, reliving all those past moments with the cutie she had first laid eyes on when walking into the hostess club she was working at… how he used to blush so easily… how he could only look down when talking to her out of embarrassment… oh, how she held those days dear to her heart.

It wasn't until lunch was underway that the door to the apartment opened, interrupting the conversation between the two, and in walked Kaiyo with Saitama right behind.

"Look who I found on my way back home." The boy nodded towards his father before taking a seat at the table net to Genos. "Smells good, by the way. How's it going, cyborg man?"

"Greetings, sensei, Kaiyo-san." The young man nodded towards the older man and his son.

"Hey, darling, lunch is almost ready. How was it? Did you take down the evil organization that stole your look?" Lola motioned for Saitama to take a seat as well next to her.

The bald hero complied with his wife´s request and wondered what Genos was doing in his home. The young man still insisted to be his disciple and now was beginning to worm his way into his house beyond his life as well, starting with getting Lola on his side, no doubt. He would never get rid of his self-proclaimed disciple, would he?

"Yeah, I guess so." Saitama scratched his head, remembering the overly muscular Paradiser whose armor he had destroyed… and consequentially sent running home naked. That had been weird. "I also ran into this guy… Jack-o'-Lantern Panic… no… something Sound-of-something… Oh, Speed-o'-Sound Sonic!"

"Speed-o'-Sound Sonic? Who is that? And who would possess such a redundant name?" Genos asked, never having heard of such a person before.

"Dunno. He suddenly appeared, declared we were rivals and took off."

The ninja guy had really acted in a weird way, appearing out of nowhere, attempting to stab him with a sword and even a kunai out of all things. Did he think they were in Nar*to or something? No one should be going around waving ninja weapons and declaring vendettas to someone who they had thought to be a villain in the first place!

"If he is a nuisance I'll get rid of him."

"Well, you're hardly different."

Lola opened her mouth but closed it. "…Forget it." She murmured.

"Actually, why are you here again? It's not like we are related, go home."

"Master, I must become stronger-" Genos began, but found himself interrupted by a shout.

"Shut up!" Saitama ordered with his patience on edge. There was one subject on his mind he could no longer ignore. "I'm now aware of a serious problem and it has left me reeling from shock. So I'm begging you to go home."

"A serious problem? What would cause a problem for someone as great as you? Please share it with me."

"Can't get it up?" Kaiyo cut in with a laugh.

"That's not it! Shut up, brat!" The hero could feel a vein ready to burst on his temple.

"Kaiyo! We have a guest!" Lola admonished her son leaning forward on the table with an angry expression on her face. It was one thing to play those bits when no one else was around, she would even admit he´d gotten that from her, but it was very different to forget his filter in front of someone else.

"Just saying…It would explain why I don't have a sibling."

"It´s not it, alright?!" Saitama crossed his arms and looked down, a frown developing instantly. "No one knows who I am. It's been three years since I first became a hero. I've defeated many monsters and evil organizations since then and I've never heard of any other heroes doing as much as me. Everyone in the world should know me by now! You know what that Sonic guy said to me today? 'Never heard of you'. Plus, everyone in town took me for a terrorist!"

"Pfft, hero for fun indeed."

Lola wrapped her arms around her husband and leaned her head on his shoulder, in an attempt to comfort him. "Oh, darling, I'm sure there's a very reasonable explanation for that."

"What explanation could there be?! I'm a nobody even though I've been a hero for the last three years!"

What had all that training been for?! And what about everyone he´d defeated?! Even if he was chasing the same feeling he´d gotten when defeating that crab monster when he was going to work it would be nice to have some recognition for all the people he´d saved over those three years.

Genos thought for a moment before a thought assaulted him. Could it be that…? Was it that simple…? "Wait… Sensei, are you listed with the hero registry?"

"I don't think so, he never mentioned wanting to be affiliated with any organization." The albino woman shook her head. Never in all the years had Saitama even expressed the desire to go professional in the hero world.

"What's the hero registry?" The bald man cocked his head in confusion.

Both Kaiyo and Lola could only stare with dropped jaws at the question. Did he seriously not know about the Hero Association? There were so many questions both of them wanted to ask but no sound came from their mouths. If Saitama was indeed clueless about it, which he very likely was due to having no reason to lie about it, there could be a ton of other obvious things he was also unaware of and no one was the wise about it.

"You have to take a test at the local Hero Branch and score higher than the cut-off to be classified as a hero. Self-proclaimed vigilantes aren't very welcomed in the public's eye because of this." Genos stated with accuracy, having read about it previously in flyers that he sometimes found while wandering about.

"I… I had no idea."

Kaiyo made a full recovery from his disbelief and went right back to his default mode: amusement. "You had no idea?! Hahaha, oh my goodness this is rich!"

"I thought you knew about the Hero Association and just didn't care about it." Lola, on the other hand, was still very much surprised by finding out her husband really had no idea about pro heroes in general. Those guys were everywhere, how hard was it to miss them?! "What about you, Genos? Are you registered, with the whole chasing an evil cyborg deal?"

"No, I didn't feel the need to."

At that moment an idea was born.

"Then let's register! Register with me and I'll let you become my disciple." Saitama promised. If he wasn´t about to lose this guy any soon at least he should take advantage of any benefits he might encounter to having a disciple.

"Let's go!" The cyborg answered without hesitation.

Lola looked between the two would-be heroes and then at her son, who shrugged, showing he didn´t care much about it.

Being married to a hero, huh? She wondered if there was any irony in that.


	6. Battles

**AN: I am a bit late with this chapter but I have a good explanation: I'm on vacation! I am currently at the beach with limited internet connection and spending some quality time with my parents, so this might be the only chapter I post this week, but it's the longest so far so... yeah... **

**R&R people, see ya ;)**

* * *

"It's a hero!"

"Crap, everyone run!"

"Wait for me!"

Kaiyo watched as his group of friends made a break for it at the sight of, in his opinion, one of the lamest heroes in existence. They'd skipped the last class of the day to go to the local playground and hang out while eating sweets and had gotten some disapproving stares from the random passerby or two, which they always met with an indifferent shrug, but none of them expected to have an actual hero to go by and spot them.

"Tch, wussies." He murmured, finishing up the last bite of his soft-serve ice-cream with a frown and leaning his head back on the bench he was sitting on. Man, the shade of those trees really felt good.

Mumen Rider was a C-class hero with a cyclist theme that went around Z-City stopping any crime he came across and even going out of his way to help old ladies cross the street and save kittens stuck in trees. It seemed like everyone loved the guy, from kids to adults the hero was a household name due to all the good deeds he performed and his general good attitude towards everyone he came across.

The man parked his bike and began walking over to the lone boy. He was having a slow day and hadn't expected much to happen aside from maybe taking a toddler's balloon out from a tree but it seemed that there were some young minds that needed to be taught the value of a good education. As always, he was more than glad to contribute towards the community.

"Shouldn't you be in school?" Mumen Rider crossed his arms and smiled fondly at the boy.

"I should, but, in my opinion, this feels like a better option."

"What's your school, young man? I have to take you back."

"Not gonna say, old man."

"You know, skipping class isn't good for your future."

Was Mumen Rider really going to annoy him until he went back to class? What a bother. "Does it really look like I care? Just go away, you're not gonna get me to move from here."

"I'm sorry, but it's my duty as a hero to make sure everyone is safe and right now Z-City attracts more and more monsters and the best place for you is at school." He vowed to himself he would get this young boy to go back to school no matter what. There had to be a way to convince him to emend his ways.

"Are you going to torture me or something?"

"T-Torture?! I would never harm a civilian!"

Laughing at how squeamish the hero was, Kaiyo gave him a sideways grin. "Then you're out of luck, because you won't convince me to move my ass from this place. Well, maybe I'll go get another ice-cream but that's because I want to."

"What about what your parents would say if they saw you skipping school?" Maybe this boy's problems didn't lie at school but at home. Maybe with absent and distant parents who barely paid attention to their son who, in turn, attracted attention by acting out.

"Mom would probably blow a gasket and dad wouldn't care that much, but if things go as planned I'll be expelled soon and be able to finally get rid of this troublesome student life. Also, I can tell what you're thinking and no, I love my parents and they love me, but school, on the other hand, does not suffer the same relationship status."

This was turning out to be one of the hardest conversations Mumen Rider had ever had. He could deal with monsters and criminals, those he could go against and use his fists to resolve the conflict, but attempting to convince a kid they needed school to gain the necessary skills to be successful in life was always a hard job to pull off, hero or not. Still, being incredibly determined and never backing down was part of who he was, of what a hero was supposed to be, so there was no way he would give up on this youth.

"That's no way to talk about an essential part of life. Just think of all the opportunities you'll miss if you drop out of school at this age."

"Meh, I can always become a hero and get paid to beat up monsters." Kaiyo laughed mostly to himself as he pictured all the tacky heroes out there. As if he would ever become as lame as them.

"Being a hero is more than that, it's about fighting for what's good and for justice to reach every single person in need."

"…You're even lamer than I though." He felt his sweet tooth coming back, it was time for another snack. Getting up, Kaiyo put his hands behind his head and began walking away towards the nearest convenience store, mentally counting the money he had on hand. "Anyway, I can always become monster if it pays better."

"A monster...?" The hero almost ran out of words upon hearing that statement. "Why would you say something like that? Monsters are bad and it's our job as humans to hold them back."

That boy had turned out to be a complete labyrinth filled with puzzles. From just a mere glance one would assume that he was just another lazy kid who wanted to play cool by going against society's rules but by digging a little deeper he seemed to have more to him than just a normal school-skipping child. Mumen Rider wondered who were his parents and what teaching and they passed down in order for him to speak so casually about turning into a bad guy.

"Well, someone's bound to come out on top and I'll be sure to be on the winning side when that happens because something my mom taught me is that the winning side determines justice. See ya, bicycle hero guy."

Something was coming, Kaiyo could feel it in the air and likely so could every other monster with honed enough senses. A battle would brew sooner or later between humans and monsters when tensions rose high enough that one of the sides went too far and turn the continent into a battlefield.

All he had to do was wait and not let himself be caught up in fanciful stories of good and evil.

* * *

In another part of Z-City laid a 24h bar, a hostess club to be more precise, where alcohol flowed aplenty and beautiful women attended to the guests. It wasn't the most high end place around, much less if it was in the city it was in, but it also wasn't a place that people would frown upon. It was merely average.

Regulars went in and out all day, be it either for just a quick drink and a talk with their preferred hostess or to wind down after a stressful day at work where their boss didn't appreciate their work and they were just another drone among dozens with the same dead-end job. Sometimes a hero or two could be spotted walking in, but they were mostly C-class and B-class as the others couldn't allow their public image to be muddled by the assumption they needed to pay in order to have conversations outside their work environment. Especially if a certain someone who was at the top of the A-class was always watching.

Lola said her goodbyes to her last client of the day, never once letting her perfectly poised expression slip as she got up from her seat and walked across the building. Crossing the bar to the other side she opened a door marked specifically for employee use only and slipped inside, finally letting her smile fall after the door closed and stretching her arms above her head with a content sigh. She enjoyed her job but it was mostly because of the women she worked alongside, not the men talking endlessly about how they were always passed up for a promotion in favor of their coworkers.

The dressing room looked like a cliché from a movie set, with chairs facing mirrors surrounded by lightbulbs on the further corner and racks filled with clothes spread about while a few young women picked and chose what would grant them the biggest number of clients that day. It all depended on a number of factors, from what the client did to their age and beyond, and just the color of a dress or a shit could dictate if the number of ordered drinks was high enough for the workers to get a good percentage based on what they were able to sell that day.

Not stopping to chat with anyone else, Lola sat down on one of the chairs facing the mirrors and let herself sink into it. That emergency phone call just as she was beginning to attend to her last client had almost put her out of commission.

"You look ready to run away from here." A young blonde woman with a bob haircut stated as she looked in the mirror while applying the necessary amount of make-up before beginning her shift. Should she go with red or a pink lipstick that time? "How's the family?"

"Not bad, Emi-chan." The albino woman answered with a flat tone.

"So, who messed up this time?"

"Who do you think? Kaiyo just skipped his last class of the day along with some friends according to a phone call I got from the principal. And he still thinks I don't know about his last suspension to top it all off."

"My goodness, your boy is on his way to getting expelled."

Emi and Lola weren't best friends but they knew enough about each other's lives to have a conversation and not wonder what the other was talking about. She knew that the boy was trouble on two legs and wasn't ready to change any time soon if his actions were anything to go by on and that tended to pull on the nerves of his mother enough to tire her out beyond what her job demanded of her. It wasn't like Kaiyo was bad by any accounts, he just had a more rebellious streak than the other children that tended to get him into trouble more often than not.

"That's just what he wants, I'm afraid. I know I should be worried and fretting over his academic career but I just get more and more tired each time." Lola picked up a make-up remover wipe and began slowly dragging it across her face. Outside of work she didn't feel the need to be dolled up that much and she was just going out to meet up with Saitama and Genos after leaving. "I think I may just as well homeschool him and be done with it."

Pursing her lips, Emi turned to her friend. "Then what? Who's going to hire someone with no diploma, no papers to show their skills and no academic records to speak of? I know I don't have any children but taking a gamble like that could be risky."

"I don't know but I've exhausted every other resource, tutors, extra classes, encouragement prizes, and the ever so classing getting angry at him. I just want to do what's best for my little man but I don't know how."

"Hang in there Lola-chan, I know you'll do what's best, you always do. And that's not only because you are the oldest friend I have."

"Thanks." It wasn't much but at least she felt a little better. Now she definitely knew some bit of what her parents must have went through. "Changing the subject to something less mood heavy, my husband's taking the hero test today."

That had made the blonde pause while applying her fake eyelashes to turn to her friend. "You're serious?"

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

"…No reason…"

Saitama, the infamous no-job and stay-at-home all day Saitama, was going to try to become a hero? Emi didn't know whether to laugh or pity Lola. Maybe a little bit of both but at least she managed to hold in the laughter. She'd seen him a few times and he wasn't much to look at, his looks were below average because of the whole bald thing and permanent bored expression, and what kind of man wore a hoodie with OPPAI right across it accompanied with a design detail?

"Please, I know that face, you have something to say."

"Well, it's just that… well… We've all seen him before and to be honest he doesn't look like much. How he even managed to win you over is still a mystery of huge proportions to everyone working here."

Smiling at the explanation, Lola reached for her purse and looked around for her lip balm. "Emi-chan, you and the others should know better than to judge a book by its cover." If only she could show the others what she'd first seen in her husband that attracter her to him in the first place… That drive laying just below the average surface… When it showed it lit up her fire in a most good way.

"Oh, come on, even you have to admit something's amiss. I mean, who suffers from that much apathy? And to lose all his hair at such a young age too."

"You've got it all wrong. Saitama's got emotions, he just has a harder time expressing himself. As for the losing hair deal I'm not that concerned, I promised to love him no matter what and that hasn't changed. He's loved me all this time and I bet it wouldn't change so easily."

Emi sighed and went back to her make-up. "I know, I know. Any one of us would be lucky to have what you have. Sometimes I wonder if there's even someone out there for me."

"Of course there is! You're twenty-two, you have plenty of time to find love. Doesn't matter if it takes a few tries I'm sure you'll get there." She winked and jumped out of her chair. There was a certain someone she had to meet up. "Well, if we're done here I need to go see my man and congratulate him on passing the exam. See ya!"

* * *

"Saitama! Genos!" Lola waved as she met up with the two newly-certified heroes on their way back home.

"Oh, Lola-san."

"Hey."

"How did it go? I bet you managed to go all the way up to S-class with no problem."

"Actually, only I managed to do so, sensei is merely a C-class." The cyborg stated.

Saitama felt a vein about to burst on his temple. "You don't have to rub it in my face like that!"

Nothing could have been more disappointing than when the true results of the exam were known. Genos had gotten a perfect one hundred and immediately placed on the S-class without question and, at first glance, Saitama had done as well when pulling out the paper from the envelope but, sadly, the top part of the apparent S turned out to be a C. With only seventy one points the bald man had barely passed with just one point away from failing, that point belonging to the written portion of the exam.

Cocking her head to the side, the albino woman looked quizzically at her husband. "C-class? Why? You should have been able to blow them all away in the physical department."

"Yeah, but I got a bad score on the written test." Stupid exam and its stupid questions. How was he supposed to know how to cause the least amount of damages while fighting a monster anyway?!

"Oh…"

"Don't say it like that!"

"Sorry. But I'm sure you'll rise through the ranks in no time now that you are a certified hero."

Pulling her husband along, Lola began walking again and Genos followed suit. It wasn't as if she was disappointed in Saitama, but somehow there was an underlying comprehension for the total fail on the written exam part. She knew he'd never been that studious and even as a salaryman had been a rather low-tier one so it wasn't that surprising for the exam to have knocked him down. Still, now he was a hero and there was the chance to climb up the ranks and she bet he would do so in no time with all the monsters he was already able to take down ever so easily.

"Lola-san, did you know the Hero Association was formed only about three years ago." Genos asked out of nowhere while pulling up the file he was given upon his acceptance as an S-class hero, attempting to divert the attention from his sensei's sour mood.

"Really? I knew it was recent but I didn't really keep track."

"It was after the grandchild of a millionaire called Agoni was attacked by a monster. The child was saved by a passerby. When Agoni heard what had happened he came up with this system and used his fortune to establish the Hero Association."

"Well, they put on some really boring seminars." Saitama mused. He really didn't remember anything that he'd been told, mostly due to having been thinking about what to eat for dinner. Also, the guy talking had been really weird too.

"In any case, as freshly certified heroes we'll be known around the world. Now we can work with our heads held high." Genos smiled. He then stopped, prompting the couple to do the same as they looked at him. "Sensei, I guess I am now your official disciple. Please continue to guide me as my mentor."

"…Yeah."

Lola stifled a giggle. The poor cyborg was still going on about being taught by Saitama and now that their bargain was fulfilled their student/teacher relationship was official. Her husband really shouldn't have promised to train Genos, mainly because of his lack of drive towards anything nowadays, but there wasn't anything to be done anymore, not unless they wanted to deal with a broken-dreamed cyborg.

"All right, sensei. Goodnight." He took a short bow and turned to leave through a side street.

"See you…"

"See ya, Genos." The woman bid her goodbyes and then looked at Saitama when the cyborg was out of earshot. "So, an official sensei, are we now?"

"I'm already regretting that promise." Saitama hung his head low with a sigh. He really should mind his promises from that point on.

"Come on, stop worrying about it and let's go home."

Lola grabbed onto Saitama's arm and pulled him along to resume their path home, still laughing internally at the display by the young blond.

Along the way the two walked along a river and she began noting that it felt nice to have some time like that with her husband, just the two of them in a comforting silence without a care in the world. They'd used to do it more often during their dating times back before they were married, even with the little time Saitama had while working he still managed to find some to spend with Lola to show how deeply he cared about her.

Could it be that somewhere along the way their relationship had lost some of its magic? Maybe. Things weren't news anymore and a routine always had a tendency to settle in but there was a comfort in getting used to the one you cared about and forming a bond that didn't depend on constant surprise and innovation.

Looking at the bald man during her musings, Lola could tell right away there was something in his mind that wouldn't let go. "What are you thinking about?"

"I don't know." Saitama shrugged but his face but, although still denoting apathy, it revealed some uncertainty to his wife's trained eyes. "Is this really the kind of hero I want to be?"

"Huh? What are you referring to?"

Before the hero could clarify his sentence, racing steps were heard behind the couple moving in at full spend and a figure clad in a snake-like patterned suit jumped in front of them, performing what could be considered astonishing flips by normal standards.

"The newcomer seminar isn't over yet!" He exclaimed while assuming a martial-arts-like pose.

Lola stared for a few seconds before turning to her husband. "Who's this guy? You know him?"

"Yeah, I think he's the speaker of that boring seminar I attended with Genos." That was just about everything Saitama could remember about him.

"Huh? Who are you?" Snek asked, confused by the woman's presence alongside his adversary's.

"Not that's any of your business but I'm his wife." She stated. Not another one of these hero weirdoes to nag at her mind.

"His wife?"

Was he really seeing straight? This actually attractive woman was married to the jackass who didn't dignify himself to even pay attention during his lecture at the end of the hero exams? Seriously?! Just another thing this idiot had over him! First it was strength and now a cute wife to wait at home and cook delicious food too? What was it and the universe favoring this unimpressive specimen of a human being?!

"Did I stutter? Now, what do you want snake-guy?"

"It's Snek! And I have some unfinished business with you, Saitama!" He pointed at the newly appointed C-class hero. "In this business there's a thing called rookie crushing. A lot of us heroes hate to be outranked. So we crush newbies early on… Like this!"

The A-class hero attacked, his fist flying forward to meet Saitama… Only to be swatted aside by the bald man like he was nothing but a fly.

The couple looked at each other, shrugged and kept walking home as if nothing had happened.

"That was weird." Lola commented.

"Yeah, he's a weird guy." Saitama agreed.

* * *

The next day everyone travelled to a canyon at Genos' request in the late afternoon so he could fight Saitama and assess their compared levels of strength. The two were confirmed to already be on the Association's website and now could only work towards improving their ranking, Saitama needing to work the most in order to catch up with his disciple's S-class spot.

While the two heroes were making some light conversation before their sparring match, up above Lola and Kaiyo occupied their time by exchanging some words as well.

"Do you think Genos is gonna come out of this in one piece?" Asked Kaiyo while looking down below at the duo.

Lola mused for a moment, considering the odds, but ended up shrugging. "I honestly don't know. Your dad is able to control his strength when the fight doesn't demand much of him, which his all the time, but Genos could demand for him to give it his all."

"And if we get caught in the crossfire?"

"That's why I'm here, ready to get you out of harm's way."

"Come on, I could totally avoid getting hit!"

"By a blast from an S-class hero?" She lifted up an eyebrow and let the beginning of a smirk slip.

The eleven year-old looked away. "…Maybe." He was mostly sure that he would be able to do so but the risk somewhat frightened him.

"Look, they're about to start."

Genos took off with an explosion from his shoulder blasters, aiming at Saitama, but failed to land a hit both the first and the rebound time. Flying around the bald hero, he then jumped upwards and came down with enough force to create a crater, but, once again, did not manage to make contact with his opponent.

"Hold on!" Lola hugged her son close to her and dodged an invisible danger with inhuman agility.

"Wha-!" Kaiyo didn't have time to process what had happened before he was put down a good deal away from the spot where he had been previously standing.

Down in the canyon, Genos was not willing to give up right at the beginning, so he lit up one of his hand blasters and fired away, attempting to hit the C-class hero while he was still up in the air after dodging the downward kick. The blast was of such intensity that it cut through the air at an amazing speed and blew away some of the top of the canyon, more specifically the part where Lola and Kaiyo had been.

"Phew, that was a close call."

"Whoa. Disregarding the fact we could've been barbecue by now, I'm always impressed by your 'hidden talents'."

They went back to looking at the fight happening down below but couldn't see much of it, not when the participants were moving at astonishing speeds that managed to create indents on the ground wherever they passed and small craters in the places they met. It could have been compared to a game of cat and mouse, if the mouse was all-powerful and merely toying with the cat, knowing the feline would never stand a chance against him.

"Genos is going for a killer move." Stated Lola out of nowhere.

Just as the albino woman finished uttering her sentence, a wall of fire burst forth from Genos' blasters with enough heat to be felt by the two monsters as they contemplated the attempt at beating Saitama with brute force.

"Man, I wish I could do that." Kaiyo thought of all the key answers to tests he would be able to get from the teachers.

Being a psychic-type of monster, something she'd inherited from her mother, Lola had an uncanny ability to pick up on stray thoughts, especially those of an unguarded and erratic mind. It wasn't like she could do it with just about anyone and in any situation, for example, if the person was highly self-aware of deep in concentration her scheme could be detected but, fortunately, not traced back to her. It was something she used at work to gain an advantage over her coworkers, injustice be damned she needed the money, but tended to keep under wraps everywhere else as to avoid heroes.

"I wish I could teach you, but-" She stopped, her eyes widening. "Hold on, your father is about to do something really incredible."

"He's about to wha-"

Before Kaiyo could finish his sentence a tremor akin to an earthquake swept over the entire canyon and a cloud of dust rose up along with an overpowering wind that almost knocked him on his ass. It was obvious what had just happened, Saitama had showed some of his raw power in order to appease Genos' desire for a real fight and, after the dust had settled, the proof was an extension of the canyon just gone, almost as if vaporized by a falling meteor.

It wasn't often that the hero let himself cause damages of that magnitude but it was undeniably his handiwork alright.

"Let's go, you dad's hungry and so am I." Lola snapped her fingers in front of her son's face and began walking away.

Kaiyo didn't say anything, limiting himself to nodding and following along.

Sometimes he forgot how scary intimidating his father could be.

* * *

At nightfall the whole group stopped by a small and cozy noodle restaurant at the request of Saitama and his quest for a bowl of udon noodles. The whole building was made of wood, standing out among the brick houses, giving it a calm atmosphere and cozy feel once they all stepped inside and were warmly greeted by the owner.

"I'm glad you like udon." Saitama sat down beside Lola and facing Genos. He sure was feeling hungry and wondered what the udon of that place tasted like.

"Yes, I'm not very picky." The cyborg assured his sensei as he looked around.

The restaurant was mostly empty and none of the people in there seemed to recognize them. Maybe it was because they had become heroes just the day before and hadn't had the chance to go out in public and perform heroic deeds. Genos thought it was better not to be bothered by fans while going outside anyway, feeling like anything he had to do would be hindered by the constant presence of people demanding his attention.

"Well, we're also kinda low on finds right now…"

Lola placed her elbows on the table and rested her face on her hands. "Not that much, we just can't afford to splurge on anything big."

"Still we…" Something caught Saitama's attention. That could definitely work on his favor. "How about another match, Genos?"

The three others looked at where the C-class hero was staring at.

There was a poster hanging from one of the walls that promised a 50,000 yen prize to anyone who could finish the food challenge but it also stated that the person had to pay 10,000 yen if they didn't manage to empty their plate. It was a nice thought to be able to get such an amazing amount of food for free, even getting paid to eat it, but on the other end was the payout if someone wasn't able to meet the demand of the challenge.

"Super spicy mega monster udon challenge?" Kaiyo thought the name was ridiculous but he knew even more than that was the confidence his father had that he could finish the whole bowl. "Dad, are you sure you can handle it?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Because when mom makes curry and loses grip on the spice you eat it like you're walking on thorns."

"I can handle it, I'm sure."

Ten minutes later…

"I give up." Saitama let his head fall onto the table by the literal bucket that had been filled with noodles.

The match had been accompanied by the total of four patrons and the restaurant's owner gazes from beginning to the end, the impossibility of two people fighting to finish first their monstrous dosage of food too shocking to avert their eyes.

"That's insane." One of the schoolgirls sitting two tables over muttered.

"No way." The other one agreed with her friend.

Just as his sensei gave up a little over halfway through, Genos finished tipping over the rest of the contents into his mouth and managed to complete the challenge without difficulty. He'd been needing some energy to replace what he had lost going overboard fighting Saitama and the inhuman dosage of udon had been the perfect candidate to replace at least some of the fuel he'd burned out.

"Is that it?" He asked the shocked restaurant owner.

"Man, you're awesome." The bald man barely had the capability to lift his head from the table.

"He's just a bit over average, you just have a weak stomach." Kaiyo commented as he slurped his regular-sized portion of noodles.

The quartet amused themselves by exchanging thoughts on the 'thrilling' udon battle that had just happened between Genos and Saitama, mainly with the eleven year-old retelling a story about the time his mother had lost control on the spice on a dish of curry chicken due to her insensibility towards most spicy foods, so they didn't notice when a certain someone walked in the restaurant until he was right beside them.

As Amai Mask walked he immediately took notice of how the patrons gave him a wide berth accompanied with surprised expressions. He loved the feeling of knowing he was adored both as a hero and as the person he presented himself as. His public persona was a singer, actor and model all in one beautiful body that also doubled as a hero when the time called for it, a true heart catcher to any person who knew who he was and his contribution towards society.

"You must be Genos. I'm Amai Mask, the number one A-class hero."

"Hey, you're that creepy guy from the other day." Lola pointed at the blue-haired hero with a frown.

"…Creepy…?" Being called that name didn't sit very well with the man. Was this really how someone remembered him? He took notice of the child that was also with the group and deduced she was likely his mother and his father… no… it couldn't be the ugly bald guy sitting next to her. "No matter. Genos, I'd like to talk to you."

"Talk?" The blond had no idea what it was about but he also knew that Amai Mask was pretty much the public face for the Hero Association, even though he wasn't S-class. "Please wait here, sensei, Lola-san, Kaiyo-san."

The two men walked outside, leaving the trio to wonder what could have been so important that Genos had been tracked down by an A-class hero at night out of the blue. Could it be that he had been mistakenly put in the wrong class? Or was it just a formal introduction between two heroes?

It didn't take long for the cyborg to return, maybe around five minutes or so, and sit back down at the table, nothing about him showing what the surprise meeting had been about, and the family of three was very curious on what Amai Mask had wanted to do with Genos in the first place.

"Done already?" Saitama pointed at Genos while holding the glass office water he'd been playing with.

"Yes." Nodded the young man.

"Was that guy here to fight or something?"

"Nothing of the sort. In short… he came to welcome me."

"Excuse me!" One of the girls that had been having dinner came near the table, stopping any attempt a further conversation. She looked more than star-struck at the presence of the cyborg after his meeting with the A-class hero that had come to talk to him. "You're friends with Amai Mask, right? May I shake your hand?"

Soon enough all the other patrons were asking to do the same, much to the amusement of Lola and Kaiyo and the chagrin of Saitama.

The bald man had been attacked just as he got a certification to be a C-class hero and nothing else while his now official disciple got fame and glory right off the bat… Heroes sure got treated differently depending on their class… At least they were even with a win and loss apiece from their confrontations in different battlefields.

* * *

**Omake:**

"Uh… When you said 'I'll be back'… This is what you meant?" Saitama stared at the cyborg with a comically oversized backpack.

"Yes. I went home to gather my things. May I live here?" Genos asked.

"Absolutely not." Lola immediately responded.

"I have rent money." The blond deposited a huge stack of bills upon the living room table with a 'bang'.

"Did you bring a toothbrush?" The married couple asked in unison.

"Yes!"


	7. Two versus one

**AN: So... I managed to get another chapter in this week by some miracle, yay! I had wanted to get to episode 6 since I first started writing this fic. Just a warning though, I am crap at fight scenes and they always come out a bit short. R&R and have a great day!**

* * *

Another Saturday afternoon had arrived once more, letting a rather boring week go by without any much to do.

Lola had been at work, Kaiyo at school (ninety percent of the time) and Saitama had been left at home with Genos, who now lived in the apartment due to his bribery with an insane amount of rent money.

There had been a good amount of complaining of the young boy's part due to the now constant presence of the cyborg in his home, involving 'not wanting a brother in that way' and 'the apartment was already a sardine can as it was' but his pleads fell on deaf ears. Ears covered by enough money to last them for a good while in case something happened.

It was just after lunch and a lazy mood had settled in, mainly for Saitama and Lola. The former was propped up by a pile of blankets and pillows in just pajama pants, laying comfortably while reading a manga he'd picked up the day before, and the latter had her head resting on his lap, periodically cracking open an eyelid to gaze at her husband's bare abs with a slight grin. Then there was Genos, who was sitting at the low table and incessantly writing about what he deemed important. And that meant pretty much everything.

"What are you writing over there?" Asked Saitama, averting his gaze from the manga in his hand.

"I'm recording the details of your lessons and training regimen." Genos answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

The C-class hero restrained the urge to groan out loud and settled for making a face. Each day that passed the metaphorical bar was raised more and more and he was running out of stamina to jump over it each and every time. Saitama couldn't think of even just one thing to teach the blond on how to reach the levels of strength he'd reach during those three years of training. It was like he was scamming the poor guy for goodness sake!

Lola picked up on her husband's thoughts and opted for not intervening. It was his own fault he'd agreed to become a sensei in the first place and now had to deal with the consequences of promising something in the rush of the moment. Now he was thinking on making up some techniques or spiritual theory to mask the fact physical training was all he had to go on, knowing Genos wouldn't be satisfied with just the basic option. Poor guy, he was broadcasting his panicked internal monologue so loud it was almost as if he was talking out loud to her.

"By the way, at the seminar they said that if you're a C-class hero and you have no hero activity for a week, your name will be removed from the Hero Registry. Will you be alright, sensei?"

The woman was surprised about what the cyborg had said and waited for the information to settle in with her husband. This was going to be good, he had done nothing but laze around at home all day as usual.

Three…Two…One…WHAT?!

Saitama got up faster than the naked eye could see, accidentally throwing Lola to the side, and braced his hands on the table. "That said that?! But I was watching TV and there wasn't anything going on."

"Oi, a bit more care, will you?" Lola complained as she sat up.

"The news only reports major incidents, like natural disasters, terrorism and dangerous monsters. You always fight the most powerful enemies, so you probably do not know it, but C-class heroes primarily take care of purse snatchers, robberies and random attacks." Genos stated, having memorized some parts of the introduction and Hero Association website. "With C-class so full of heroes, to survive they must actively look for cases to resolve. I hear many of them get discouraged and change careers. Like a salesman doing cold calls, nothing will come to you without legwork."

"This is no time to be reading manga!" Shouted the bald man.

Quickly grabbing his caped yellow jumpsuit, Saitama wasted no time in stripping of his pajama pants and putting on his hero costume at an immeasurable speed. He didn't pass by just one point and end up in the lowest class only to fail right on his first week as a professional hero! It wasn't his fault for not having paid attention to the seminar anyway, that thing had been even more boring than his math teacher's classes in middle school.

"So, we're going?" Asked Genos as he got up from his place at the table.

"You stay here. If I'm with an S-class hero a C-class like me won't get any credit!"

"But, as your disciple-"

"Genos." Interrupted Saitama in a serious voice. "From the beginning, my intense desire to be a hero was what drove me to strength training. That's how I made it this far. For you, things will change if you aim higher as a hero. Frankly speaking, you're a cyborg, so training your body won't do. Instead, a change in mindset may lead you to greater strength." Yep, he was just making it up as he went along. Now what else to say? Looking around, he saw the mange he'd dropped on the floor, remembering it was about having will and some other stuff. "So… in other words, it's not about having raw power or technique, it's about training your mind. To do that, you must first fight your way through the professional hero industry by aiming to break into the top ten of the S-class heroes."

Lola held in a laugh and shook her head. For a guy who despised long overcomplicated speeches he sure managed to put on a good one on the spot. She could more than clearly tell he was more than clearly bullshitting his way through a vague assembly of words, and that wasn't just because she was picking up on his thoughts like he was yelling into a loudspeaker. Those were some of her favorite moments, when he stumbled with thoughts and began making up things to gain enough time to extract himself from the situation. Ah, memories.

"I understand." Genos nodded with conviction after a few seconds. "I will try, sensei!"

Sighing in relief, the bald hero was out the door in a flash and running through the deserted streets of his neighborhood and into the heart of Z-City.

He needed to find a bad guy and fast!

* * *

Meanwhile, as Saitama made his way further into the city, two A-class heroes were making the opposite trek into the outskirts that were rumored to be infested with monsters.

The Hero Association had placed together a mission for the investigation of the ghost town due to rumors of a potential disaster brewing in that area, most undoubtedly due to monster activity spikes that had been appearing for over ten years and kept rising with each passing time.

Two men walked alongside each other through the less and less busy streets as they approached their target. Golden Ball was a tall blond man approaching his thirties with a short shave and beard who, in all honesty, looked like a gangster with the baggy clothes, letterman jacket and white bandana on his head. Spring Mustachio, on the other hand, was in his middle forties, which was apparent by the wrinkles on his face, with combed short black hair, a thick handlebar moustache and a well-pressed dark-green suit. The two couldn't look more opposite but worked very well together, having undertaken several missions as partners and even meeting up for drinks in their spare time.

"Z-City is quite expansive, but further up ahead lies the uninhabited area we were told about." Commented Spring Mustachio as he twirled his moustache with a light grin.

"Yeah, let's get on with it." Golden Ball gave his answer while lightly biting on the lollipop he had in his mouth.

Both heroes continued their path along the city streets, passing by less and less people while signs of monster destruction became more and more evident. A hole in the road here, a vending machine with claw marks there, some broken and warped street signs, not to mention the insane amount of posters warning about the presence of monsters

"Z-City is quite expansive, but further ahead lies the uninhabited area we were told about." The older man motioned towards the end of the street. "Compared to other cities, this one has an abnormally high rate of monster-related incidents. The frequency has been gradually increasing over the past ten years, while the last few have seen more and more highly advanced monsters appearing. The residents have entirely fled for the city center."

"I know all that. That place is a real ghost town, just with the water and electricity still intact, yeah?"

"On the lookout for a cheap house?"

"Not in your dreams." Golden Ball scoffed. "People say something real nasty is living around here. Even you must've heard.

"But of course. I assume that's why we have been assigned this investigation."

Stopping in front of a fence that divided the inhabitable area of Z-City from the ghost town part, the two heroes stared at the numerous warnings both in plaques and posters warning anyone that came close enough not to commit the mistake of daring to go further ahead and to do the sensible thing, that was to turn around and go back the way they'd came from. The neighborhood had been just like any other at one point, tall buildings, wide streets and everything else, but with no one around the mysterious beings had more than obviously taken over and made themselves at home with destruction all around.

"We better be ready to fight."

"Indeed, we mustn't let our guard down."

Jumping over the man-made obstacle without problems the men continued their mission, now with more care than ever. Anything, even the slightest noise, could be the sign of an impending threat looming over them, ready to strike at the slightest provocation, or even lack thereof.

"But, why here? Why the increase in monsters here?"

"That's the mystery, many theories have advanced, but my own is this: a colony of monsters is naturally producing more of them or perhaps a queen exists, birthing more of her kind."

* * *

Kaiyo slowly walked around the neighborhood, hands behind his head while he gazed at the sky, carelessly drowned in his own thoughts. He sure loved a good stroll after a swim in the river in the afternoon.

He didn't have much time to walk around in his original form since he spent most of his time around humans, only being able to release his disguise at home, and with Genos living in the same apartment as him that option was out the window faster than his father could chow down into an entire bowl of udon. It was beginning to feel cramped to look like just another normal human kid twenty-four/seven so he picked that Saturday afternoon to take some time for himself.

As soon as Kaiyo had left the apartment his whole body had turned pitch black and his eyes grew big and round, looking bloodshot as if he hadn't slept in a while, taking away all the appearance he put on as a regular eleven year-old. His hair also underwent a transformation, going from brown dreads to kombu seaweed that covered his whole body from top to bottom in a mass of tentacles that he could control at will. He sure loved the way he looked, truly terrifying due to his human child-like appearance, and wouldn't wish to be anything else in the world… but it wouldn't hurt to have shared more traits with his mother.

His mother… Lola… mom. The woman who had taken him in alongside a human man he also now called dad on a regular basis as if he was truly their child. Did he have another mother and father out there? Maybe. Monsters came from somewhere and his own mother had a set of parents, even if one was human.

"A monster!" A shout came from behind the young monster.

"Huh?" Turning around, he was confronted by two men. One wearing a suit and another looking like some sort of gangster. "I didn't know there were people around." He muttered to himself.

"Golden Ball, are you ready?" Spring Mustachio assumed a combat position.

"Hell yeah! Victory to the swift!" Answered Golden Ball, biting his lollipop.

"Oh, are you heroes?" Kaiyo asked, but he already knew the answer to that. For someone to come into the abandoned part of Z-City they had to be either stupid or heroes. Or his family.

The gangster-looking man took out a high-tech slingshot and aimed at the monster in front of him. "I can blast through a 20mm steel plate with one of my shape-memory golden bullets! Eat this!"

The projectile flew at an alarming speed towards the monster boy, turning from a sphere to a drill-like bullet midway through, ready to gut through its target like it had done many others… only to be flicked away by one of the seaweed tentacles and into a wall, causing a small explosion and leaving a sizeable dent.

Kaiyo could feel one of his eyes twitch. These two jackasses had appeared out of nowhere and attacked him as if he was some sort of criminal… well, he could fight too and it wouldn't be pretty. Sending one of his tentacles though the storm drain it managed to snuck up on the unsuspecting shooter and wrap itself around his leg from behind.

"What?!"

The hero was swung across the air in an arch in order to gain momentum and pulled underground, dragged though the storm drain with painful cries, then back up in the air and slammed into a nearby building with enough strength to make him cough up a good amount of blood and likely break a few bones.

"Golden Ball!" Shouted the A-class hero, knowing that attack had more than knocked the wind out his partner.

Readying for his turn to partake in the fight, for his life and the one of his friend, Spring Mustachio removed the handkerchief from his breast pocket and, with a snap of his fingers and a flick of a wrist, a brief cloud of smoke erupted from it and his trusty sword appeared in his hands.

Launching a barrage of tentacles, Kaiyo attempted to breach the defenses of the only standing hero, but found that this one possessed much sharper reflexes than his partner, each and every attack countered with a precise movement of the sword. Soon enough the fight blurred into indistinguishable slashes with only the young boy's body remaining still as he watched in awe as his attacks were repelled.

Pulling back his hair from the barrage of strikes, Kaiyo grinned. "Wow." He whispered. Could this be the rush his father was always seeking? Or was there something more challenging to be had?

Spring Mustachio narrowed his eyes squared his shoulders. He had to use it. His most powerful attack. Placing his right foot forward he drew back his blade, making it coil and store energy. "Tomboy… thrust!"

The sword extended an incredible length, going farther than its target and ending up embedded in a building in the turn at the end of the street… But it had not hit the one who Spring Mustachio had been aiming at, who had sidestepped in a flash and avoided certain death by a little less than he cared to admit, leaving him only with a hole in one of his tentacles.

"Not bad." Commented the young monster with a casual tone.

The A-class hero could not believe it. The creature had slipped past his Tomboy, his trump card in any battle and the surest way to end a confrontation with any enemy. Drawing back his blade, he began to sweat from the stress. This wasn't proving to be any good, with Golden Ball knocked out and injured and his swordsmanship skills outmatched there was no way he alone could end that fight. He was up against a monster with an infinite number of tentacles as strong as steel who could use them as whips, something out of his power range. He had to call the Hero Association and fast!

"May I ask if you were born in this neighborhood?" Slipping his cellphone out of his sleeve behind his back, Spring Mustachio began sending a distress signal while attempting to distract the monster in front of him with the question.

"Huh? No, at least I don't think so." Where was he from anyway? Kaiyo really couldn't remember much about his life before being adopted to be honest. "Why, are you here because monsters keep appearing around these parts? If so, I should warn you not to go around too much because you may end up worse than your friend over there. There are rumors about monsters gathering here too, but they're just that rumors, especially since there's two crazy strong ones around here."

"What? There are?"

"Yep. But you won't be around to meet them, so don't worry about it."

There was a laugh as another barrage of tentacles flew in the hero's direction, this time with more cruelty than the first one. The fight resumed with more battle cries from Spring Mustachio and laughter from Kaiyo, accompanied by the sound of clashes between steel-like tentacles of a monster and a sword of a hero, the noises echoing though the empty streets.

Soon enough the seaweed proved to be mightier than the sword as the latter shattered, leaving the man open to an onslaught of attacks that left him bloodied, gashes and rips tearing across his suit and staining it with red that bloomed from his skin.

Gasping for air, the hero finally accepted his fate as he let go of the hilt of his broken weapon with a dark laugh. It seemed like this was how it all was going to end. "Now I see… If it means running into monsters like this all the time… I wouldn't want to live here either." And, with that, his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fell unconscious to the ground in a heap.

Glaring at the now down for the count A-class hero, Kaiyo crossed his arms and shook his head. "Man, this was boring. I thought it was gonna be fun but it was boring. The first time I kick a hero's butt and nothing exciting happens. Anyway, I gotta keep going, it's almost snack break and at least having Genos around means I can order him to make me something."

Turning around, the boy prepared to leave, when he saw a figure approaching. Tilting his head, he tried to make out who was this person. Another hero? They were wearing a cape, so… Wait. Could it be…? Uh oh.

Saitama was returning home after finally having apprehended a bad guy to maintain his presence in the C-class, a certain… Damn, what was his name? Seed-on-the-Ground… Lost-and-Found… Jack-'o-Lantern Panic… Whatever, what mattered was that he got to keep his hero status and even found a sale going on a supermarket during his trip back home. Crab meat at half price along with some potato chips he and his son liked to snack on and some other things Genos could use to make dinner (he and Lola were taking advantage of the fact their new roommate could cook).

As he kept walking he spotted someone with wild hair standing in the middle of the road, the hair looking like it was moving on its own. Wait, it really was moving on its own. Yep, that was Kaiyo alright. Stopping in front of the monster boy, Saitama looked past him to see two men collapsed on the ground, both bruised and bloodied.

"Hey." The eleven year-old lifted up a hand in an awkward gesture.

"Hey." Saitama responded. "You know, technically it's my job to beat you up for attacking people. Your mother would say you acted recklessly."

"But they attacked me first! I think they're heroes or something. One even called for backup when he though I wasn't paying attention, so others could come at any moment!"

Sighing, the bald man kept walking forward, motioning for his son to come along. He wasn't about to meddle in this thing and hoped neither was Lola. Lola… she had wanted something that morning, but what was it…?

Suddenly a building disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving behind a trail of destruction that went even farther.

"Crap! I forgot to buy kombu stock!" The man yelled out. His wife was going to kill him. For over three days she had asked him to buy that ingredient and he kept forgetting each time.

Staring at the piece of work his father had made of the apartment complex, Kaiyo crossed his arms and pouted as he turned back into human form. "Sure… and I'm the one who acts recklessly."


	8. Crash and burn

**AN: Phew, this was one of the hardest chapters I had to write so far, mainly because I hate two assholes that appear near the end of it... Anyway, ****look at the end for my notes because I would like your input in some things, you're my readers after all :)**

* * *

Lola was having a peaceful day at work when it happened.

"Oh, would you look at that, I already finished my drink." The woman mock complained to the salaryman she was accompanying at the booth with her other two coworkers, smiling in a mischievous way. "Could you order me another one?"

Nodding vigorously, more than a tinge of red displayed on his face, the man began signaling the bartender. "Sure thing, sweetie, anything for-"

Out of nowhere the emergency siren began to broadcast emergency warnings to the populace, telling people that an emergency evacuation was to take place due to a Dragon-level threat. Oh, and it was meteor too. Apparently they had only thirty minutes to vacate the impact area before they all died in an impact capable of vaporizing them and the whole city along with them.

How nice to know we were warned beforehand, thought the albino woman as she drank the untouched whisky her client had ordered but never even had the chance to touch before he took off with great haste along with the other clients and her coworkers. Deciding it wasn't worth the bother to go outside and get trampled by the furious crowd, if the noise was anything to go by, Lola got up and went into the dressing room, rummaged through her purse and took out her phone.

There were two phone calls to make.

"Good afternoon and before you ask yes, I am walking home from school where I was the whole day." Answered Kaiyo without skipping a beat from the other end of the line.

"It's nice to know but that's not why I'm calling you."

"Is it because of the deadly meteor about to crush us in, let me see, twenty-ish minutes or so?"

It was hard to shake the memory from his mind of the entire class panicking and running out the door along with the teacher, everyone too busy in saving their own skin to realize he had been left behind. Alone. At school. So, obviously, the first thing he had done was go up to the teacher's desk, take a peek at the test they would be having the next day, and then calmly exit the building to go straight home.

"Yes. Just wanted to tell you to keep heading home and not following the rest of the sheep in a mindless panic because I'm calling your dad next." There was no telling if any of the S-class heroes would be able to stop the falling piece of space debris and it felt better being sure the job got done.

"Oh, ok." Stated the boy as if there was no imminent danger to the city. "See you home for dinner?"

"Sure thing. See you later. Love you, kisses."

Ending the call, Lola took the opportunity to grab her purse and headed out the back of the hostess club, making sure she wasn't caught in the confusion of the street. Making sure she was alone and out of sight, the albino woman jumped at the building in front of her and performed a wall jump once, twice, three times and finally was up on the roof of the building complex. It felt nice using her skills every now and then, the trick was never to get caught due to the fact someone could end up confusing her for a hero or something and then everyone would know what she could do because of course no one could keep their stupid mouth shut.

Looking up at the sky, the meteor was noticeably becoming slowly, but surely, more and more evident. Time to pull out the big guns. Or punches.

Looking at the time she saw it was about seventeen minutes to the impact. Eh, there was still more than enough time.

With a button push for speed dial her call was answered after a few seconds. "Hey, Saitama, are you home?"

"Huh? Why?" Asked the man with a tone that hinted at curiosity.

Saitama had been at home doing his usual stuff, mainly reading a new edition of a manga he liked, with Genos by his side at the table when they cyborg had gotten a call and excused himself to go answer it more privately in the kitchen. The C-class hero hadn't even bothered to look, too absorbed in his reading to butt into someone else's business, and figured whatever it was Genos could handle it by himself. For all he knew it was that doctor… doctor… Kazeno? Whatever, it was likely that man that did all the upgrades for the S-class hero and he didn't have a single piece of metal in him, so why bother?

When the young hero had come back he had stated that the Hero Association wanted him to go in and that he would be back later, not mentioning what the call had been about in the first place. Saitama merely shrugged off the information and jokingly mentioned he was about to get fired and went back to his reading. He had figured that would have been the end of it and whatever it was Genos was up to the task.

"Tell me, have you ever went against a meteor?" She knew for a fact that he hadn't, but it never hurt to ask.

"Not that I remember. You are asking me this because…?"

"There's one heading down as we speak and it will destroy the city if someone doesn't do something."

"Oh, that must be why Genos was called in a while back."

"Likely, yes. So, could you be a dear and take care of it?"

Taking a few seconds to consider the request, Saitama mulled over the scenario. "I bet all the S-class heroes were called to handle it, I think I'll pass."

"…Seriously?" Lola knew her husband's characteristic laziness was to be expected, but wasn't expecting a swift refusal. "Come one, those idiots don't have what it takes to help out. Just think about it, if this thing ends up hitting us we're as good as dead… not to mention it would destroy Z-City and all of our stuff is here."

"... Good point. I'll get dressed and see if I can find Genos. If he or someone else doesn't destroy this meteor I will."

"Thanks, Saitama-kun, you're the best."

"You know you're not allowed to call me that in public." Complained the hero, a high pitch rising in his voice, letting his wife knew at least some color had risen to his cheeks. And his bald head.

"Sorry." Lola restrained the urge to giggle. "See you later. Love you."

"Yeah, love you too… Lola-chan." With his final words, Saitama cut off the call and, if he was true to his word, got up to change into his hero outfit, ready to smash a meteorite.

Lola smiled and put her phone away. They only used those suffixes during certain times when they were completely alone (and once, when neither had noticed Kaiyo coming into the apartment… okay, a few times, but that was beside the point) and she loved how they managed to get a rise out of each of them. Sometimes she missed their old first apartment, just the two of them, doing whatever they wanted... even if the old landlady was a first rate bitch with whatever was above capital letters, it had been home for a while.

Managing to get out of her thoughts, the woman looked again at the sky and figured now all she had to do was wait.

It took a while, the streets long deserted for as far as she could see, when Lola saw someone, a blond with a blue and black shirt if she could tell correctly, fly through the sky, accompanied by what seemed like either lightning or static electricity, and land on top of one of the higher buildings. It sure wasn't her husband, so who else could it be? Wait, who did she know that was blond, was able to reach high altitudes and was also wearing a blue sleeveless shirt that morning? Genos, of course. Who else would show up but the one determined to prove his worth by putting himself in harm's way, even if he ended up with missing body parts and in dire need of repairs.

Just as Lola was about to gauge what her new roommate was capable of doing another figure came flying across the sky, one heavily armored and from the look of it packing some serious heat, and stopped directly in front of the cyborg. Another hero? Wasn't there one that specialized in machine combat? Metal something… Oh, Metal Knight! An S-class hero just like Genos, but up higher in the ranking. How odd, though, it felt like… well, nothing, actually. She just couldn't feel a presence from within the armor no matter how much she reached with her mind. She theorized that, maybe, it was merely a machine with the pilot being elsewhere. Either that, or the man was in fact an esper capable of shielding his mind and never told anyone.

The two seemed to have a conversation before the higher-ranked hero relocated to another rooftop and fired a barrage of missiles up at the meteor, causing an explosion of massive proportions that shove the ground below and obfuscated everything for a few seconds.

"Damn, my eyes." Complained Lola as she raised her arm to avoid going blind at the display of overpowered fireworks. Heroes and their tendency to show off every damn time.

When the smoke cleared, unsurprisingly, the falling piece of space debris was still very much there and still about to hit the city in… Lola checked her phone. Thirty-seven seconds. Now, if Saitama could only hurry up and get to dealing with the problem it would end the dangerous scenario but, for some reason, he hadn't yet done so. Now, it wasn't that she was getting worried but- oh, who was she kidding, she was very clearly starting to feel sweat beginning to form on her brow. How long had it been since she'd felt fear like that?

The woman thought she felt another presence next to Genos, but couldn't focus on it long enough due to an intense blast that erupted from the place where the cyborg had been standing, no doubt some sort of new attack that he'd developed. It was really an incredible thing to see, a giant column of fire shooting from the earth up to the celestial body, obviously attempting to stop it in its path.

Could it be? Was it actually working? Was Genos truly capable of undertaking such an extreme feat? ...Not really, since it dissipated shortly after, leaving the meteor still intact and on route to crash into the city.

Lola sighed. Well, at least a certain someone had finally arrived with, she checked her phone again, about fifteen seconds to spare. Willing her heart to settle, the woman let out a sigh she hadn't realized she'd been holding in and shook her head. He truly had a tendency to be late.

All of the sudden a shockwave hit her and all the nearby buildings and something shot upwards straight at the meteor at a high speed that someone could mistake it for an oversized bullet, but Lola knew better. It didn't take long for the celestial body to suffer the impact and, from the looks of it, be impaled from one side to the other in one clean swift, halting it in its tracks and saving Z-City.

Yep, Saitama wasn't even phased by a meteor capable of wiping out an entire city. That was her husband alright.

Glad that her home was no longer at the mercy of total annihilation, Lola smiled… but it didn't take long for her mood to dissipate when, out of nowhere, the bar behind her ceased to exist with a loud explosion. Chunks of the falling meteor began raining down all around her, taking out entire buildings throughout the city and- Holy mother of, was that thing heading right at her?! Jumping out of the way, Lola kept hopping from rooftop to rooftop, avoiding the falling pieces of space debris.

She should have guessed that there couldn't be a normal ending when her husband was involved!

* * *

The day after the incident that almost completely destroyed all of Z-City, but still left it very much in need of repairs, found the family of three plus their cyborg roommate resting a home watching the news in order to accompany what the authorities were making of the almost catastrophe.

"Although Z-City was able to destroy total destruction, the city was still devastated, with the effects of the meteor fragments visible everywhere." The reporter related as images of the effects of the celestial body's pieces were shown from an aerial view.

The center of Z-City had been hot the worst, with buildings partially or completely collapsed from the force of the impacts and the photos weren't doing them any favors as they only highlighted the severity of the situation. Somehow the outskirts had avoided the brunt of the damage, the apartment inhabited by the family and their guest having remained intact as well as all the others around it, no fragment having come even close to it.

"If only the Hero Association had called you instead of me to help, sensei." Genos lamented as he took in the images showing the devastated streets. "If you had worked with Metal Knight, the damage could have been minimized."

"But that Metal Knight guy wasn't interested in helping, right? So stop worrying about it, I think we kept the damage to a minimum. After all, no one died." Saitama shrugged off his disciple's worries with his usual demeanor.

"Yeah, Saitama's right. Too bad about the bar, though." Lola laid her head on her husband's shoulder.

"Oh, you've talked to your boss?"

"Yeah, she's laying off the personnel and moving to another city. The only way I could keep my job was if I relocated with her but I'm not willing to do that. My home is here and I'm not about to leave it. I can always find another job."

"That sounds really sappy." Kaiyo teased from his place in the corner while he read one of his father's manga.

"You're just upset your school wasn't hit."

"Fair point."

While the family was busy talking about the news and what the pieces of the meteor had and hadn't hit, Genos retreated into his own thoughts.

The cyborg looked down and thought about Saitama's words about nobody having died in the aftermath of the incident. It was true, all citizens had managed to get by unscathed after the punch killed the meteor's momentum, averting a catastrophe that would have annihilated everything as far as the eye could see and beyond. Had the C-class hero been someone else people would already be talking about him and praising him for his short of a miracle accomplishment, looking up to the courageous act with awe, but, unfortunately, that wasn't the case. A few of them were already making Saitama out to be the bad guy, blaming him on the partial destruction of their city and of their property.

"Do you think we moved up in ranking?" The bald man interrupted the cyborg's musings.

"Yes, we did." Genos nodded. "I moved up from rank seventeen to sixteen and Metal Knight also went from rank seven to rank six. But you, sensei, shot up from C-class rank three hundred and forty two to five."

"From three hundred and forty two to five?! What the hell?! That's crazy!"

"Whoa, congratulations!" Lola hugged Saitama with a cheer. She knew only he had the capability to go through the ranks that fast, even if he deserved to be in S-class from the start. "We're celebrating tonight. Sure, we can't go out, but we can always make an extra special hotpot."

"Nice move, dad." Kaiyo got up and patted his father on the back.

Nodding in agreement, Genos praised his sensei's strength. "Your performance was worth of A-class or even S-class, sensei, after all it was a threat level Dragon. If there had been no damage I am sure you would have been at S-class rank five. Smashing the meteor alone was worthy of A-class, but I think the Hero Association assumed that Metal Knight and I played a bigger role."

"By the way, they always report threat levels as 'demon' or 'tiger' or whatever. Does all that mean anything?" Saitama asked.

"Seriously? Only you not to know that information." Lola teased him. "Those are danger levels to let the populace know what to expect from a crisis."

"Lola-san is right. Tiger is a crisis threatening massive loss of life. Demon is a crisis threatening to halt the functioning of an entire city or cause its destruction. Dragon is a crisis threatening the destruction of multiple cities. Finally there's God, a crisis threatening human extinction." The blond explained, quoting directly from the Hero Association webpage. "I believe heroes consider threat levels when deciding to respond or not, but I guess they do not matter to you."

"Well, of course not. If the heroes run away, who's left to help?" Saitama pointed out as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

There was a pause as the metaphorical gears in Genos' mind came to a halt, as if hit by a powerful attack. His core skipped a beat when the information was relayed onto him directly from his sensei's mouth. Of course, it was so clear to his sensei so it should be something to live by. He quickly pulled out his pen and notebook and began writing the sentence over and over as to engrave it in his mind with utmost haste, vowing to never forget it as long as he lived.

"Erm… what are you doing?"

"I must make a record of your words."

Lola and Kaiyo both sweatdropped and repressed the urge to giggle at the devotion the poor young cyborg showed towards the older man. The way Genos looked up at Saitama sometimes bordered on the ridiculous and never failed to entertain them, although it always went over the blond's head what the two found so amusing and the bald man could only let out exasperated sighs.

"Anyway, it wasn't all that much for such a huge jump in rank..." The C-class hero attempted to divert the attention from the awkward subject. "All right. I'm gonna go out for a bit. Any of you want to come along?" He got up and want to put on his trademark hero costume.

"I'm in." Kaiyo threw his manga aside, rushing to go put on his shoes.

"Sure thing. We'll make a family walk out of it." Lola agreed. "What about you, Genos?"

"Yes, I'll go as well." He had to prevent his sensei from knowing what the public thought about his actions. Even if he had prevented the meteor from obliterating the city a lot of people weren't happy with the side destruction he had caused.

"No, you stay here." Saitama quelled the subject. "If something happens, you'll get all the credit again." There was no way he was going to allow that to happen again. Just because a guy was in C-class it didn't mean he wasn't able to take care of a simple meteor all by his own, geez.

* * *

As the family of three walked through the ruined streets of Z-City, they could tell it was worse than the news had reported. People walked around with boxes and carts filled with the valuables they had managed to salvage from their destroyed homes, toiling in order to recover whatever remained of their lives before the meteor had strayed from orbit and came crashing down. The buildings were nearly all sporting some form of damage from the celestial body's shards, but nearly none presented less than partial to total destruction, the crashes having also created some sort of domino effect that rippled through the ground and shook the buildings until they fell on top of each other.

"This place sure has been wrecked…" Commented Saitama as he looked around until something caught his attention. "Oh, my favorite supermarket got smashed."

"But the crappy apartment from where we were kicked out of is just fine, apparently." Kaiyo pointed to the two-story apartment complex with a blue rooftop. "Man, that cranky old lady is such a lucky bitch."

"Hey!" Just as the family was about to continue on their journey, a shout drew their attention. "You cheating bastard!"

Turning around, they saw a large muscular blond man with tiger stripes running through his hair and eyebrows and wearing a tiger-striped tank-top who looked pretty pissed for some reason. None of the three recognized the tiger-themed man and were very confused as to why he was addressing them, more specifically Saitama, in such a rude manner.

"Uh… who are you?" Asked the bald man with his typical bored expression.

Feeling a nerve about to burst on his temple, the loud man couldn't repress the rest of his anger. "You know damn well I am Tank-Top Tiger!"

"Hero, Tank-Top Black Hole has arrived!" Another hero, this time one with a black tank-top and hair, jumped into the air and appeared next to the first one, looking equally pissed. "I heard your shouts, otouto! So, you're the fraud taking credit for work done by S-class heroes in order to jump though the rankings?!"

"Aniki, you're here! I was just telling him no one could move up to number five so quickly without cheating!"

Lola crossed her arms and frowned. She was picking up seriously violent thoughts from those two heroes along with a large streak of pride and high thoughts about their accomplishments, a perfect recipe for idiots who, when something went wrong, blamed it all on the person who got one over them. It wasn't as if she was worried about them beating up Saitama but no one was allowed to talk to her husband like that, much less after he'd saved their lives!

Kaiyo too was feeling his blood beginning to boil at the sight of a pair of meatheads dissing on his father because of something he had no control over. Saitama had saved an entire city's citizens from certain annihilation and they were only interested in their bruised egos and asserting their positions on the imaginary pedestal they'd placed themselves on top of.

The albino woman was ready to dish out a good talking to along with Kaiyo when Saitama lifted his arms in front of them, holding the two back. The eleven year-old and the woman looked at the C-class hero but his expression didn't change, nor did he look at them. Understanding, they stepped back and let him handle the two idiots thinking they could defeat a man capable of smashing a meteor into pieces.

"What do you guys want?"

"Huh? Isn't that obvious? To beat you up so bad, you won't be able to-"

"Hang on, otouto." Tank-Top Black Hole stopped the tiger-themed hero before he ruined their image. "Bastards like him don't learn from that kind of lesson. Let's make him really pay… with the most brutal method there is." The B-class hero took a deep breath and then put on a worried expression, just for show, of course. "Are you the one?! The jerk responsible for destroying this city?! Unbelievable, how can you show your face?! Do you feel nothing at the sight of this devastation?! You're gloating, thinking you actually saved these people! Why else would you be walking around so shamelessly?! Thanks to your screw-up these citizens have nowhere to go! If you're gonna fail this hard, why butt in?! The other heroes would have done a way better job and yet you still wanna play hero after causing such a huge disaster? All this destruction was your doing!"

A crowd of people had gathered around, watching the display put on by Tank-Top Black Hole. Their wide eyes and amazed expressions didn't hide the fact that, in their hearts, they resented the one responsible for breaking the meteor into pieces and caused them to lose part of their lives. None realized the hero was appealing to their anger in order to break Saitama's spirit due to having the populace turned against him in the aftermath of a crisis that had taken so much from them that they were looking for an outlet for their emotions. It was hard getting angry at an inanimate object but getting angry at a person… well, that made it much easier to find a scapegoat.

Looking all around, Lola began picking up on the growing dark emotions plaguing the minds of the people that had gathered due to the shouts of the B-class hero. They were starting to be assaulted by the thoughts of all the things they had lost, their houses, their cars, their everything, and soon they would not hold back. Like shaking a bottle of champagne with a loose cork, sooner or later it would burst and the inside would come spilling out with no option of bottling it back in. This was one of the reasons sometimes humans didn't sit well with her, turning onto one of them who had provided such a huge help in a heartbeat as soon as things went sour… they criticized monsters for doing just the same… such hypocrisy.

"That's right, it's your fault!" A man stepped forward from the crowd.

And, with that, they had taken the bait. It had been all too easy.

Grinning to himself, Tank-Top Black Hole mentally congratulated himself for his plan. "You hear that? The heart-wrenching cry of someone who lost his home! Look at them, all victims of your thoughtless actions! Haven't you even though of taking responsibility?"

"That's right!"

"You tell him!"

"Yeah!"

"You're inhuman!"

"Give up on being a hero!" The black-haired hero pointed at Saitama. "Give up! Give up! Give up! Give up!" He began chanting.

Soon enough the entire crowd had given into their anger and was shouting at the bald C-class hero, their eyes burning with fury and their hearts blackened by the catastrophe. _'Give up! Give up! Give up! Give up! Give up! Give up! Give up! Give up! Give up! Give up!' _The chant rang loud and clear though the area, mob mentality ruling the citizens of Z-City as they poured out their bile.

"Dad, aren't you gonna say something?!" Kaiyo turned to his father, but his question went unanswered. "Please, say something!" He grabbed onto the white cape and pulled, but failed to gain any response from the man.

"Hey!" Tank-Top Black Hole shouted one more. It was time to finish up the cheating bastard once and for all. "What are you doing with that woman and child?! Are you seriously going to take out your frustration on them just after you destroyed this city?!"

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Saitama cocked his head, still unfazed by the multitude of people that had turned on him.

"Liar!" Lola pointed at the B-class hero. "Shut up before I make you."

"Mom's right! My dad would never hurt us, you jerkface!" Kaiyo felt just about ready to go monster and tear those so-called heroes apart with his tentacles.

Unfortunately, the crowd didn't pay any mind to the two when they called out the black-haired hero, too buried in their fear and hatred.

"Do you just kill anyone you don't like?! I won't let you do that! We Tank-Top brothers won't let you stand by and let you resort to violence!" Tank-Top Black Hole continued his rant.

"We brothers will stop and punish anyone who strays from the path of being a hero!" Tank-Top Tiger joined in.

Letting out a battle cry, the tiger-themed hero began running at the bald man, ready to tear him to pieces, and then… was easily flicked aside as someone does with a regular insect.

Taken aback by the display of strength from the C-class hero, the stronger of the Tank-Tops felt a bead of sweat run across the back of his neck. No, he couldn't back off! He was stronger than that vermin!

"Damn you!" He shouted as he threw himself at his enemy… Only to end up crying in pain as his hand was crushed in a vice grip. "Ahhhhh! I give up! I give up! You're crushing my hand!" The pain rushed through his arm and he felt his knees give and his eyes began to water. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry for lying!"

Both Lola and Kaiyo watched with amused expressions as the two morons who had though they could even land a hit on the strongest man in the world were reduced to whispering babies with just a swat and a light grip respectively. Finally their favorite bald man was standing up for himself.

"No, you weren't lying." Saitama shook his head before throwing his attacker aside and turning to the crowd with a glare. "I'm the one who smashed the meteor! Anyone with a complaint speak up!"

"…Because of you, my brand-new car was-"

"You can shut up! Why would I give a crap about your problems? Tell it to the meteor, jackass!" He'd finally had enough of these idiots and wasn't going to hold back. "Listen up! I don't do this hero thing for admiration. I do this because I want to! So, go ahead and blame me if you want, because I'm gonna keep up and saving your sorry asses-!"

Lola couldn't take it anymore and threw herself at her husband, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him in for a rough kiss. She loved when that flame sparked up and showed itself, especially when it was to show others how Saitama wasn't going to change for anyone. He was a hero and would continue being one for as long as he wanted, no matter what anyone said, and she admired this determination down to its core.

Saitama, who had been taken by surprise, felt his eyes widen, the wind taken out of his sails as his wife planted a kiss on his lips in front of the crowd and his arms unconsciously wrapped around her waist. As she pulled back, he stared at her, not knowing what to say. Where had that, not all that bad by the way, kiss come from and why? He could see her looking at him with a love-filled smile and couldn't guess for the life of him what had just happened.

"Let's go home." The albino woman leaned forward, pressing her forehead against her husband's. While she loved the fact he stood up for himself she also knew that he could say something he didn't truly mean, even if those idiots all around them deserved it. "We'll have that hotpot for dinner, yeah?"

"… Oh. Ok."

Intertwining their fingers, the couple began walking away along with their son, the crowd parting as they passed through it, no one daring to say anything else, thinking about their actions and what they had just done to someone who had saved their lives.

Even if he public didn't appreciate him, Saitama knew that he could always count on his family to be beside him and cheer him on, no matter what. Maybe that was all he really needed, after all.

* * *

**AN: I have a few things I would like your input on, if you**'**d be so kind:**

**.Do you think Lola should get another job or just remain at home? If yes to the job, which one?**

**.****I'm thinking next chapter I could do the special episode where Bang invites Saitama to his dojo but I'm afraid it will be rather short, like 500 to 1k words short. If people support the idea I will do it but if no one says anything I'll just keep going with the normal order of the episodes.**


	9. Of martial arts and meat?

**AN: So... 500 to 1k words, was it? He he he, I will admit I found this chapter a little boring to write up to a little over half of it, but one week later I present you the fruits of my labor. Enjoy!**

* * *

Kaiyo had grown used to living in the small apartment he currently shared with his parents but that did not mean he enjoyed it. It had taken well over a couple of months to finally accept the fact that they were no longer living in a space apt for a family of three and instead had to share a small apartment with no bedroom where they were forced to sleep in the living room after all. So why had those two even considered allowing Genos to move in with them, less alone actually agreeing to it without consulting him?!

The day hadn't been all that great to begin with, he'd waken up to the sound of his mother's giggling (always fun, insert sarcasm here), eaten breakfast as fast as possible in order to leave home and not have to think about his parent's intimate life and accidentally chocked on some rice that ended up coming out of his nose (that had taken the appetite right out of him), gotten to school actually on time despite his best efforts to delay his journey, been partnered up with Tareo for a science experiment (that boy really enjoyed talking about heroes way too much), at lunch time realized he'd forgotten his bento at home and also his wallet (meaning no food at all) and despite everything forced himself to endure the entire days' worth of class (for his mother's sake). All Kaiyo had left to make the day actually worth it was to get home and watch his favorite cartoon while eating dinner but the moment he'd gotten to the apartment he was greeted by the sight of Genos in a pink apron declaring the meal was almost ready along with the explanation from his father that the cyborg would be living with them.

Needless to say the boy had excused himself and gone out, taking his frustration in any low ranking monster he saw in the ghost town part of Z-City.

Why was he reminiscing about it again?

"Kaiyo-san, I believe it's time for you to get up." Genos gently shook the eleven year-old awake in his futon.

…Oh yeah, that was why. The cyborg now fancied himself a housemaid and took it upon himself to wake Kaiyo up every morning. Even when he didn't have school because giant meteor pieces had devastated most of Z-City and the principal had given a week off to all faculty and students in order for them to get their lives back on track.

"Get bent, walking toaster, I'm trying to sleep." He mumbled with uncharacteristic rudeness and pulled the covering closer to his body.

"But I have prepared breakfast and it is now in optimal consuming conditions. Waiting will only make it less appetizing and, in consequence, less likely to be consumed."

"…Fine. If it will make you leave me alone I'll get up."

Grumbling, Kaiyo slowly crawled out of his oh so cozy futon on all fours, hair all over the place acting like a curtain around his face, and sat at the table in front of his parents and the breakfast Genos had prepared. His eyes were still somewhat glazed over from sleep but it looked like a standard arrangement of rice accompanied by some side dishes, so at least something good had come out of having another person living with them. Like less chores, including his responsibility to wash his plates that he now shifted over to Genos at any chance he got.

"Aren't you going to say good morning?" Lola commented from her spot at the table.

"What's good about this morning?" Kaiyo asked while stirring his natto.

"Come on, don't be like that. It's a beautiful day."

"He's kind of right." Said Saitama as he picked up the last piece of his tamagoyaki. "Z-City is still kind of in shambles because of the meteor. I'm still upset too because of my favorite supermarket." Placing his chopsticks down on the empty bowl of rice, he then got up and went to get changed into his hero outfit. "Genos, are you coming along?"

"Yes, sensei." The cyborg answered while taking care of the dirty dishes in the sink. "I only require one more minute to take care of my task at hand."

While the two heroes were talking, Lola thought about what had happened four days ago. It was true that there was still much to be done about the damage done by the pieces of the celestial body that had rained from the sky and even with the help from the Hero Association the repairs were bound to extend for a while. So many people had lost so much in such a short amount of time that there were not enough means to go around all at once, but things were shaping up, even if taking some time to get to what they used to. Luckily, despite the mob that had formed the other day around Saitama with the incitation with the Tank Toppers, things had quieted down enough for tempers to settle, so no one else had bothered the bald man when he went out.

Looking at her son, the albino woman suddenly got an idea. "You know, Saitama, why don't you take Kaiyo out on patrol with you and Genos?"

"I'm not sure…" It wasn't like he didn't want his son to come along, but he already had Genos to take care of. Somehow it seemed like he had gained another kid, one made of metal and wanting to go everywhere with him.

"Well, I am." The eleven year-old then began shoving the food into his mouth at an alarming speed, looking like he didn't even chew half of what went in and only stopped when all the bowls on his side of the table were empty. "Done." He proclaimed with a smile.

* * *

Meanwhile, an old man, hidden behind a wall, watched the entrance to the building where the family plus their cyborg gest lived, focused on when the target to his stalking would finally appear.

Bang wondered what exactly had happened to his Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist ability and how someone could have surpassed it with such apparent ease. When the meteor had been coming down, ready to clear away Z-City a man he hadn't recognized had come out of nowhere and smashed the celestial body into fragments without the use of the technique he had invented and spent most of his life working on to become a fully-fledged martial art style. Something like that had thrown the older man off balance in his mind and made him think of the power already possessed by the hero in the yellow jumpsuit and white cape, knowing that it wouldn't take long for that man to become someone of great talent.

It was then that the door to the apartment complex opened, removing Bang from his inner musings, and Saitama, along with Genos and a darks-skinned boy with dreadlocks came out. The surprise was evident in the martial-artist's eyes. To see an S-class hero hang around a C-class hero was very rare, but a thought quickly came to his mind, namely of when he had been supporting the young cyborg after the failed attempt to stop the meteor and the bald man had appeared. Genos had called the lower-class hero Saitama-sensei, indicating that they had a student-teacher relationship, but still, Bang wondered how it was possible for that to be due to their clear difference in class placement.

And how did that boy fit into all of that? Was he another student under Saitama? He really did not look like any of the two heroes, but Bang had seen him along with an albino woman accompany the C-class hero when the two Tank Toppers had rallied a crowd and attempted to get revenge for being outranked. As a martial-arts teacher, he was used to dealing with small children, but didn't quite see Saitama as one to do so as well.

Following the trio from a distance, Bang kept to himself as they made their way along Z-City until they ended up in a part where Genos quickly disposed of a Tiger-level monster proclaiming itself to be Cabbage Patch, a former human man who had worked on his garden so much he had turned into a cabbage monster.

"What should we do for dinner tonight?" Saitama asked as he took a seat in a nearby bench. "We have a lot of cabbage, right?"

"Not cabbage again, I don't think my stomach could take any more of that." Complained Kaiyo.

"Still, we can't do much with only cabbages." Genos pointed out. "Perhaps we can go out to buy some meat?"

The bald hero looked up at the cyborg with a disappointed face. "Man, you're always saying stuff like that! Listen up, cabbages are naturally sweet. If you cook them with barbeque sauce they'll make for a great meal."

"Stingy all the way through…" The eleven year-old sighed. He'd really been in the mood for meat lately.

On the other hand, Genos gasped, his eyes widening. "I see! You need to make use of every ingredient made available! Even the most powerful weapon would be made useless if its wielder is weak. That's what you're saying, right, sensei?"

"… I really didn't say that but ok…" It would be best to just let his self-proclaimed disciple to think whatever he wanted to about their talks, it always made things much easier.

"This will be a great lesson, sensei!"

As the blond pulled out a notebook and began rapidly writing his 'lesson', Bang intently watched from his hiding place in a bush the interactions between the two heroes. Had he just witnessed the essence of martial arts be explained with mere cabbage? And to such a student who so easily picked up on the metaphor… a far cry from Charanko, if Bang had to be honest.

He had to do something soon or else the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist would have no future.

"Hello there." The older man got out from his hiding place and began walking over to the trio, a smile gracing his face in an attempt to seem friendly and with no ulterior motives. "Fancy seeing you here."

Looking at the greyed man suspiciously, Saitama then turned to Genos. "Who's this old man again?" He whispered a bit too loudly.

"He's Silver Fang, an S-class hero, sensei." Answered the blond.

"Just call me Bang." Laughed the S-class hero, a bit thrown off for being called an old man so casually.

Inspecting the C-class hero up close, Bang saw he looked just like a normal guy, perhaps even a bit plainer than usual. Then he stared at Genos, the excellent disciple whose guidance came from that man, Saitama. If speaking strictly about rankings, the cyborg was definitely higher but if he were to learn the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist it would be another different story, even if the bald man was such an incredible teacher.

"What's up with this old man? Suddenly going quiet?" Saitama asked.

"There are a lot of strange people in the S-class." Genos pointed out to his sensei.

"Is that including yourself?" Kaiyo snorted, remembering his earlier insult about him being a 'walking toaster'.

Thinking about all the cabbage there was to prepare for lunch, the bald man got up and gestured to his companions. "In any case, shall we go?"

"Yes!"

"Finally, I was getting real hungry."

Noticing the targets of his day's worth of stalking were walking away, Bang thought up one last question. "By the way, Saitama, you must have had a mentor of your own, right?" He couldn't wait to know the identity of the person responsible for granting this seemingly normal C-class hero such a great amount of strength. "Where did you learn your moves? What's your method?"

Resisting the urge to make a face, Saitama settled for a sigh. "I thought he would stay quiet but now he's full of questions."

"Oh, don't mind me. Just a simple answer will suffice."

"Ok. I don't have any special methods."

Eyes widening in surprise, Bang took a step forward. "Then how on earth did you obtain such strength?!" It couldn't be possible?! Could it?

"Uh… muscle training, I guess."

"What?! Then how did you destroy that meteor before?"

"Oh yeah… I didn't remember I did that."

It was the dream of any martial arts teacher and it was standing right in front of Bang! Such potential awaiting to be tapped into… the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist could indeed have a future after all!

"Why don't you come visit my dojo one of these days? You might take an interest to it?"

"Nah, I'm good."

"Saitama-sensei is a very busy man." Genos attempted to put himself between the bald man and the S-class hero, his sense of duty towards his sensei coming in full force.

"Yeah, busy as in reading manga all day. That's my job." Kaiyo pointed to himself. "Anyway, martial arts are boring unless they're being used in a videogame where you rip the spine right out of your opponent's back."

"Come now, there's no need for that." Waving off all the excuses, Bang took out a card with his information and handed it to Saitama. "Here's the address to my dojo. I'll be sure to keep my schedule open tomorrow."

"Were you even listening? Saitama-sensei is a very busy man-"

"Alright, old man." The C-class hero swiped the card out of the older man's hand with a frown before he began to walk away. "See you tomorrow, I guess."

Bang watched as the trio took their leave, a smirk forming on his face. He looked forward to seeing them show up.

* * *

The next day…

"Why aren't they here yet?!"

* * *

While Bang had been stuck listening the ticking of a clock in an empty dojo the people he had been hoping to receive were on a special mission. One that required good timing and great speed in order to be able to reach the target before it disappeared for good.

To reach a flash sale on a supermarket that sold great cuts of meat and that for an hour only were at half price.

"I can't wait to eat it." Kaiyo was practically skipping with glee. "I've been craving good meat for a long time."

"To be honest I thought you were going to go to the dojo today, sensei." Genos commented as they were leaving the supermarket after their successful shopping trip.

"It's only because the old man was so persistent." Saitama swung the bag in his hand that contained the precious cargo. "If I didn't say that to him he would probably have kept bugging us…"

Unbeknownst to the trio, they were being followed by an inconspicuous figure that kept up to their pace not too far from them. Or about as inconspicuous as a person with a brimmed had pulled down over their eyes and a wide overcoat could be in a sunny afternoon.

The S-class hero known as Silver Fang tailed his targets after having located them rather easily. They seemed rather calm, too calm in his opinion, for someone who had skipped a commitment with a person as high ranking as him without having second thoughts on what he would do the next time they met. Bang was about to teach them that lowering their guard after leaving the legendary master of the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist hanging was most definitely not a good idea. Perhaps he could sneak up behind the C-class hero and pull his arm back while pushing him to the ground and putting pressure on the back with his foot, a classic takeout method for unruly students.

Keeping his distance, Bang was timing his exact moment to strike in order to surprise them the most. He could have struck at least two-hundred times by now but he still wanted to calculate that exact moment that would deliver the most impact.

Kaiyo turned around and began walking backwards, hands clamped behind his back and a grin on his face. "In any case, we have delicious meat and we're- whoa!"

It all happened in a matter of what seemed to be less than a second.

The dark-skinned boy accidentally stepped on a stone and tripped backwards right into the road they were about to cross just as the streetlight turned red and a truck decided to step on the gas in order not to be delayed. The driver saw the boy hit the road and hit the breaks, losing control of the vehicle. Kaiyo could feel his hair begin to stand out, readying to strike the van but, faster than the eye could see, Saitama threw himself onto the road right on top of his son and hugged him close.

"Sensei!"

Then, everything ended just as fast as it had begun.

Genos was lifting the van one-handed while all around people stared at the display of strength by the S-class hero and children pointed at the brave man that was so strong he could lift a vehicle above his head with just one hand. The cyborg was aware of the display he was putting on, and how unnecessary it was, considering Saitama would more than likely not have sustained any injuries from the impact, but he had acted on an impulse that had left no time to think, merely to act or not.

"Dad…" Kaiyo's heart was beating at full speed and his mind was racing even faster. There was no telling what could have happened had he been alone, but it would possible his cover could have been blown. Looking to the side, however, the ability to form words returned. "The meat! My precious meat! It's ruined."

"Ah… I guess it is…" Saitama got up and pulled his son onto his feet as well. "I guess it's cabbage again today."

While father and son lamented their loss, the older man that had been following them had his eyes wide in surprise and jaw metaphorically on the floor. After witnessing the sheer speed the C-class hero displayed, Silver Fang was more than impressed, even if he had seen what the man had done to the meteor first-hand. It was more than obvious a change in plans needed to occur as to persuade Saitama since the promise of a lesson from a pro in martial arts such as himself was out of the question.

"I see you are having trouble with your ingredients, am I right?" Bang approached the trio, having shed his 'disguise', with a laid-back smile. "Our dojo just happens to have quality meat lying around that the Martial Arts Association sent over…"

Feeling his mood perk up rather high at the promise of free quality meat, Saitama wasn't one to refuse such a great offer. "Well, we just happen to have some barbeque meat sauce ready to be used. Where's that dojo of yours?"

* * *

A short trip through the city into its outskirts and climb of a rather intimidating stairway on the side of a mountain (that Kaiyo demanded someone give him a piggy-back ride) later found our protagonists in the legendary dojo that taught the style known as Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist.

The building was what one would expect from a normal dojo, from its wooden structure right to the banner that said 'advance fearlessly towards one's goal', although it seemed that all students were gone save for one teen with messy orange-colored hair and wearing a white gi. As soon as they had entered, Bang had motion towards a display of two piles of tiles that he stated were hard to break just one of, let alone multiple of at the same time. Three more were placed off to the side, just in case he would need more convincing.

Saitama, Kaiyo and Genos were invited to sit in front of the display while Bang took his place between the piles and his student, Charanko, sat by his side.

"Before I hand over the meat, I have something to show you." Silver Fang steadied his hands, placing them straight over the plaques of hard stone and, in one downward chopping motion lightly touched them. The second after a continuous crack ran down the entire pile, separating each of the plaques into two pieces precisely the same size. Lightly chuckling, the S-class hero smirked at his guests. "What do you think? Would you like to learn more of this type of move?"

A crash was heard and everyone´s attention turned towards Saitama, who had broken all three spare piles of plaques without anyone even realizing he had moved.

"I already get it, so hurry up and give us the meat." The bald man stated, getting rather impatient that he had to wait after the promise of free food.

"What is it that you want to do?" Genos asked, feeling the impatience of his sensei.

"Just give us the meat so we can get home, old man." Kaiyo idly twirled one of his dreads between his thumb and index fingers, not really paying attention to what was going on.

Feeling frustration begin to get to him, Bang decided it would take some definite convincing for the two heroes to join his dojo, but if they were to spar someone would more than likely get hurt.

Remembering one of his old favorite pastimes that built speed, the S-class hero then sent Charanko to retrieve his set of Karuta (a card-based memory game with two sets, one with images and another with writing). They all sat down, with Bang and Saitama on opposite sides as opponents and all the cards with images arranged face up between the two of them, ready to begin the game.

"Seriously, where´s the meat?" The bald man complained as he was forced to wait even more time for his promised item.

"If you win I´ll give it to you." Promised the older man with an easy-going smile. "Charanko, read them to us."

"Yes!" Picking up the first card with writing from the deck, the martial arts student looked at it before he began reading. "Nu-"

Before Saitama could make any sort of movement, Bang already had swiped a card off the floor and was proudly showing it off.

"So fast!" The C-class hero exclaimed.

Whistling, Kaiyo was also very impressed, his mind still reeling from the whiplash of such a fast action. "Damn, the old man got moves!"

"What do you think? By training my entire body I can achieve such reactions instantly. This is what martial arts is all about." Silver Fang chuckled. He had definitely made an impression on them with his skillset and reveled in in. "Ready for the next round? Charanko, if you please."

Picking up another card, the student began reading once more. "Ro-"

This time, however, it was Saitama that caught everyone else off guard. Banging the palms of his hands on the floor he caused the cards to jump upwards before picking up one off the air and proudly showing it off to his opponent. This time he had outsmarted the old man and was closer to receiving his precious high-quality meat.

"I see now, the winner is determined by how many cards they flip into the air." Genos leaned forward, feeling his core picking up speed. His sensei was indeed a very cunning man. "If that´s the case, hurry up and bring on the next round!"

"Wait a darn minute! Don´t just ignore the rules!" Bang exclaimed.

"These guys don´t seem the type who can concentrate with quiet games." Charanko sweatdropped and pointed at the guests. "There´s not much we can do with that around here."

The master of the dojo gritted his teeth and motioned for his student to clean up the cards. There had to be something he could use to show off his repertoire of skills and convince those two to join his dojo in order to pass on the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist ability and secure its future after he was no longer fit to pass it onto the next generation. But what could he use…? Maybe… yes… that would do just fine.

Retrieving a plastic hammer and a big enough metal bowl, he sat down once more in front of the three males and hoped that this last attempt would be enough to sway them over.

"This is a very old competition we used to practice here at the dojo. It´s quite an old practice." Bang sat back down and looked his opponents in the eye. "First off, we need to decide who will be on the offence and who will be on the defense. This will be determined by the ´shi dao´ (rock), ´quian tse´ (scissors) and-"

"Isn´t that Janken (rock-paper-scissors)?" Kaiyo interrupted the explanation.

"…Moving on. The victor will then be able to pick up the weapon to defeat his opponent and then-"

"It´s Tataite-Kabutte-Jankenpon (Hit-Cover-Rock-Papper-Scissors). Everyone learns that as soon as they enter school. It´s just a kiddie game but this time with two supposedly grown men playing."

"…Well, yes, that´s what you would call it normally. But by trying this out with the rules of martial arts you might-"

"Sensei, I´ll do it." Genos volunteered, closing his phone and putting it back in his pocket.

"Do you even get the rules?" Saitama asked, unsure of what it would be like, due to that it had been a long time since he´d last played the game.

"Yes. The explanation took too long, so I just looked up the rules myself."

"… Fine, let´s go." Bang accepted the challenge, feeling his temple throb. Youths these days, always rushing and never listening.

The two S-class heroes sat across from one another and readied for their ´confrontation´.

"Tataite! Kabutte! Jankenpon!"

Bang drew the winning hand and from there things seemed to happen in slow motion. Genos gasped and reached for the bowl but before he was able to even touch it he felt the hammer descend on his head with full certainty. The cyborg felt more than humiliated for being defeated in front of his sensei with such ease right in the first round, but managed to hold his tongue.

"Got you first. You still have much to learn." Silver Fang calmly stated, brandishing the hammer almost as a symbol of his superiority. "Seems like this might be too difficult for youngsters such as yourselves."

"Hahaha." Kaiyo broke down in a fit of laughter and pointed at the cyborg´s head. "Man, you look like you have a bald spot! Hahaha, I knew you wanted to be like my dad but not that much! Hahaha!"

Ignoring his son´s laughter, Saitama stepped forward. This time he was the one smirking. Things were heating up and he was bored, so no need to waste an opportunity like that, especially if it guaranteed free high-quality meat. "Looks interesting to me. Genos, switch with me."

Trading places with the blond cyborg, Saitama sat in front of the dojo master and straightened his back. He didn´t know much about luck but he had more than enough speed to be an old man, martial artist or not.

"Tataite! Kabutte! Jankenpon!"

Bang won the hand once more and the C-class hero readily reached for the metal bowl as fast as he could… only for it to slip from his hand and for him to feel the hammer hit his bald head, leaving a red spot.

The S-class hero didn´t say anything, opting to remain in silence and with as much poise as he could, but inside he felt satisfaction well up his pride. He hadn´t dedicated his entire life to martial arts not to have something to show off for it.

"Damnit! One more time." Demanded the bald man with an angry frown.

Second match. "Jankenpon!" He lost again.

Third match. "Jankenpon!" And again.

Fourth match. "Jankenpon!" And again.

Fifth match. "Jankenpon!" And again.

Sixth match. "Jankenpon!" And again.

Seventh match. "Jankenpon!" And again.

The game continued on until Saitama´s head was a vivid red, both from the hits and the deep anger he was feeling over the fact he was losing every match so far, not winning a single hand from the very start.

"One more time!" He would not lose again! He would not! Damn all of his rotten luck to hell but he would not lose to the old man one more single time!

"Tataite! Kabutte! Jankenpon!"

And… No! It couldn´t be! Yes! He won! All those humiliating defeats but he would have the last laugh! He reached over to the hammer and- No! It slipped from his grasp! Why?!

Meanwhile, as Saitama was having an internal crisis due to his rotten luck, Bang had already secured the bowl and placed it over his head. How nostalgic, he though. He was reminded of the time when his dojo was full of youths in training, youngsters filling up the entire building and training in the art of Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist that he had created when he had been young himself. To think of those bygone days filled him with a warm sensation that gave him the feeling of the purest state of happiness he had ever felt. It was just as Bang thought, he needed the power of youth to… to… wait, was the guy still reaching for the hammer? Holy crap, he was!

Saitama lifted up the hammer above his head, an aura that radiated pure fury emanating from his body. He wasn´t about to be defeated again! HE WAS NOT!

Bang´s eyes widened and between the fight of flight he chose flight, disappearing from underneath the helmet and jumping up above, his fists imbedding into the ceiling, witnessing the hammer descend upon the helmet, denting it before recognition against the ground and creating a small crater on the floor from the force of impact.

"What- What kind of power is that?!" Bang yelled out, counting himself lucky he had dodged that bullet, because if not he would be on his way to an early grave as opposed to an early retirement like he had wanted. Releasing his hold, he went back down and repressed the urge to clutch his heart.

"That´s not fair! You´re not supposed to run away!" Saitama shouted at his adversary, more than pissed that his only victory had ended up ruined.

"After it had already been decided who the victor would be!" Genos shared the animosity towards Silver Fang along with his sensei.

"That's not what the rules say!" Charanko slipped into the conversation, opposing the two heroes.

"Are you calling my dad a liar?!" Kaiyo stepped in front of the martial arts student, glaring upwards at him, cursing himself for not being taller.

"What are you gonna do about it, short-stack?" The orange-haired teen smirked and bent down to look the shorted boy in the eyes. Before he knew it he was in a wristlock with his arm twisted behind his back, curtesy of a small and very pissed eleven year-old. "Ouch! Let go! Let go!"

"Call that again, I dare you!"

"You two, break it up." Silver Fang stepped forward and bowed his head to Saitama. "It´s my defeat. They are correct. I don´t intend to go another round though, I´m not about to throw my life away in a place like this."

The S-class hero wondered what would happen if they were to fight for real. Perhaps he would be defeated, or maybe he would win, proving his years of experience surpassed the strength of the younger generation, but he doubted that second option.

"Then what about our meat?" The dark-skinned boy asked. "We came all the way up here, we deserve some compensation. Are you gonna give it to us or what?"

"I already planned on giving it to you from the beginning." That had taken the wind out of the sails of the three guests, making all of them look at the older man with confused faces, and he smiled at their reactions. "But before that, what do you guys think? It was nice to get involved in this, am I right? And for once, Saitama actually enjoyed this spar of ours. If it wasn´t so, you wouldn´t put your all into it, right? Charanko, listen up."

"Yes…" Straightening up, the white-belt student looked at his sensei.

"You do not need to know who the victor is within a battle using martial arts. That is the beauty of this art. Yes, this is the essence of martial arts."

"Fang-sensei…"

"What do you think? Would you like to join my dojo? Saitama?"

"Nope, not at all." Bluntly answered Saitama with a deadpan expression. "I just came here for the meat.

…

"Oh… is that so?"

And that is the story of how Bang learned that with certain people he couldn´t top good meat at great prices, not even with the promise of enlightenment though training in one of the most renowned martial arts on earth. You can´t eat that, after all.

* * *

**OMAKE**

"Whatever, let´s just do this one more time so we can settle it!"

"Sensei, please fight against me this time!"

"What?! Why?"

"Charanko, you against me, then!"

"No way, psyco kid!"

"Ah, to be young again."

(At home) "Where the hell are they?! All I wanted was some meat for lunch!"

* * *

**AN: Good? Bad? Worth the wait at all? Leave a review and let me know :D**


	10. Wedding jitters

**AN: I am really sorry for taking this long to update but my depression flared up a bit and sucked out all my drive to write until today. I wrote half of this today in a semi-rush to take advantage of me being able to find inspiration in all honesty. Anyway, thank you all to the people who favorited, followed and reviewed up until this point, you support is what keeps me going :D**

**Also, a thanks to Mia on AO3 for the idea!**

* * *

"Someone get me another palette, this one isn't the right tone!"

"Where's the dress I just saw?!I swear if anyone got their hands on it-"

"Could we get some silence in here?! Sorry about that, lift up your chin just a bit, darling."

Lola would always be the first one to admit she'd taken advantage of her looks more often than not in her life in order to get what she wanted. Heck, it had been in her job description to make use of them to sell drinks at high prices to salarymen wanting an escape from the real world! Still, taking a job where there would be actual copies of her image out there, posing with a fake smile and wearing clothes she'd never in a thousand years buy for herself had never been a posable option in her mind. Or, at least, it hadn't until she found herself wanting to have something to do and wanting to avoid struggling for money since Saitama had pulled her aside and insisted they didn't spend any of the money Genos had provided as his share of the 'rent'.

Now there she was, standing off to the side of a stage, her turn to have her picture taken in a blue 'sundress' having finally ended. Sundress her ass, that thing was made of at least three layers of some fabric that felt really uncomfortable under the bright lights! In any case, Lola had made her way to the catering table in search of some goodies to compensate for the uncomfortable material but didn't find a single thing worth her time, much to her dismay, the table consisting of only tea and coffee (with no cream or sugar in sight or even biscuits, savages!).

While the woman was busy glaring at the catering table, another man came into the studio, a frazzled look about him, and hurriedly made his way to the photographer busy taking the photos of the model on stage.

"Hey, Sakumo, I need to borrow one of your models. Like, right now." The newcomer whispered, not wasting any time in putting his cards on the table, startling his colleague. If he didn't come through with what he'd promised he'd never find a job in the business again.

"Taiki!" Sakumo almost dropped his camera in surprise and sighed in relief when he caught it just in time. "What? Why? Can't you see I'm in the middle of something here?" He made a wave at the model he'd been photographing to signal her to wait for the conversation to end.

"Sorry, but it's a confidential project, least we cause a scene. I have enough trouble as it is with the ones back at the set. Please, I need your help, I'm in deep trouble if I can't pull though on this. We've helped each other before and I really need a miracle right now and you're the only one I can resort to in such short notice." He was coming close to getting on his knees and begging his friend to help him.

With a sigh, Sakumo slumped his shoulders and pointed at Lola with his thumb. "Look, Taiki, you can ask the one in the blue sundress, she's the only one I'm done with. Take it or leave it, I've got nothing else."

Looking over at the woman in question, Taiki gave her a good once-over. "The one with white hair?"

"I'm sorry if she doesn't fit your criteria but it's not like I hired spare models just in case someone else needed them."

"White hair… white dress…" The previously panicked man began mumbling before a proverbial lightbulb lit up in his brain. "Yes! She's perfect!" He didn't even excuse himself, running up to the albino woman as if she was salvation itself. Which she technically was. For his career. "Excuse me!"

Lola looked at the man suddenly in front of her, then around, before pointing at herself with a confused expression. "Me?"

"Yes! Would you be interested in participating in a project I am currently directing?"

"Like right now?"

"I'm sorry it's on such short notice but I'm begging you, please, I need your help!"

The woman pondered the offer. It would be a good way to earn some more money without having to look again through countless pages of ads online and in the papers and it was a legitimate job, unlike some of the other ones she'd come across. Also, it would get her out of that hideous sundress she'd put on with a fake smile and a lie about how it was 'so pretty'.

Giving it another thought, Lola made a humming noise. "… Does it pay well? I'm not gonna do anything for free, I kinda need the money after a meteor crushed the hostess club I worked at."

"Oh, yes! It's a very well-paid job with catering for the full day since we need to get this out as soon as possible." Taiki nodded excitedly. Hallelujah, he was safe!

"All you had to say was that it had catering but well-paid is a nice bonus too. Lead the way, erm…"

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You may have just saved my career! And it's Taiki, erm…"

"Lola. No suffixes, please, just Lola. I get enough of that at home."

After a hurried goodbye to Sakumo, Lola found herself almost literally dragged away from the set in a rush, not even having had the time to change into her regular clothes, thinking that whatever she had just agreed to must have been really scheduled by the minute to justify the hurry.

A car had been waiting for Taiki at the entrance to the studio and once two were inside it took off at an alarming speed and didn't stop until they were in front of another, this time triple-sized, studio with at least five burly bouncers guarding the front doors. There had been no time to dally about, however, as the man exited the car with Lola in tow and waved for the security to let the through inside of the building only to be stopped by even more bouncers at least three times and even a metal detector at the last stopping point.

Finally, when the last door was opened, the heart of the operation was revealed. People milled about from one side to the other like hurried ants, never stopping and dodging each other with near misses, talking aloud into phones or to each other in a cacophony of voices that melded together and accompanied their quick paces.

"Whoa, this is a big operation." Lola looked from one side to the other, never having witnessed anything like it.

"Tell me about it, everything needs to be perfect for our client." Taiki then raised his arm and motioned for a tall blonde wearing very stylish clothes to come forward, who didn't waste any time in doing so and taking a short bow. "Haru, take Lola here to get fitted into the dress and tell Michi to get started on the makeup at the same time. I want everything ready as soon as possible so I don't care how many people need to work at the same time, just do it!"

"Sure thing, boss. Come with me and try to keep up." The blonde answered in a curt tone.

Haru grabbed Lola's wrist and once again, the albino woman found herself being dragged but this time to a dressing room where what looked like a handful of people (or more!) immediately hounded her.

Within the hour Lola found herself wearing a wedding dress, one of those designer ones that if you went into the store didn't have a price because only absurdly rich people could afford them like it was spare change, and looking like a literally blushing bride in her wedding day, veil and everything pinned in place. Her hair had been promptly done in soft curls at the same time the dress was modified to adapt to her body, people rushing all around her, pulling and prodding at every inch of her body making her feel rather exposed. Whatever it was she'd gotten into it was big to have such a huge team running around just her.

"Where's my replacement bride?" Taiki yelled out while giving instructions for the positioning of the cameras. He'd already given the green light for the star of their production to come out of his dressing room so there was no turning around. His heart was beating like a motor engine by the passing second, so all he really wanted was to wrap up all the work and get to editing ASAP.

"Right here." Lola came running to the man, holding the dress up so it wouldn't make her accidentally trip. She'd made that mistake once years ago, no way she'd be getting caught doing it twice… in front of people… again.

Turning around, the director let out a sigh of relief and place a hand over his heart. Miracles did exist! "Blessed be my eyes, you are just stunning. What I would not give to take you to the altar."

"Thanks. Hey, I never got to ask, what am I doing anyway? Is this an advertisement for a bridal shop or something like that?"

The set was divided into three parts: a chapel decorated with white garlands and flowers, an ivory background that sparkled as if it had tiny blue diamonds sewn into it and a ballroom-like room with a marble floor littered with rose petals and a chandelier. If those sceneries were real they would be any bride's dream, they emanated the feeling of a happy romance between whoever would be hypothetically getting married, and would be the envy of many of the guests who would witness the union of the couple.

"Well… Not exactly. You see-"

"I see that we are finally ready to start shooting. I'm glad you were able to find a replacement in such a short amount of time." Another man's voice cut in.

Taiki stifled a yelp and took a step back. "Amai Mask-san!"

"Wait, what's he doing here?" The albino woman was surprised to bump, yet again, into the A-class hero. Did he have a GPS tracking device on her on something?!

"Oh, you are the woman who was with Genos and his friend the other day. I never got your name, to think of it. I also wasn't aware you were the one to replace Sayuri-san for this project."

To be honest Amai Mask was more than surprised to see the woman once more, especially under those circumstances. When he'd gotten the notice that his partner, who had fallen ill all of the sudden, had been replaced and on such short notice no less there had been some questions that came to mind, most noticeably how good was the replacement actress and whether or not he had to deal with an annoying fangirl for the whole duration of the shooting. Well, at least the latter question had been answered. It wasn't often (more like almost downright impossible) that the pro-hero/superstar met someone who didn't like him at first glance and that intrigued him.

"Lola. Try Lola-chan and I will personally end you, just so you know. And this project would be…"

"The recording of the musical video to accompany my latest single 'Day of Love', of course."

As soon as the information registered in Lola's brain she finally noticed the blue-haired man was dressed as a groom. Oh. Oh! OH! What had she gotten herself into?! Playing make-belief bride to that snobbish celebrity had never crossed her mind, not even in her worst nightmares, and now the impossible scenario had happened and it came dangerously close to short-circuiting her mind!

Taking a calming deep breath, she looked between the smiling pretty-boy and the nervous (* cough* terrorized *cough*) director and swallowed the bile of the words she desperately wanted to shout. "I swear if this didn't come with catering I would be leaving you at the proverbial altar. Let's just get this thing over with so I can return home to my actual husband."

"Thank the heavens." Taiki whispered under his breath before putting on his brave face. He had a music video to produce. "Alright! Places everyone! I want to send this to editing by the end of the day, so get moving!" He shouted to the crew, who began to take their places in a rush. "Lola, Amai-Mask-san, please step onto the chapel set for the first part of the recording, face each other and hold hands while looking at each other with the most love-filled gaze you can muster and a love-struck smile."

The two main stars walked onto the set, one less eager than the other, turned to each other, held hands and locked eye contact. Amai-Mask was the most at ease, his whole career as an actor backing him up, and easily gave an incredibly sweet smile that would have made any fan-girl swoon. Unfortunately, there was a slight hitch to the whole 'love-filled gaze' and 'love-struck' situation. Namely, the woman that was currently thinking of ways to poke out the honey-colored eyes of the man in front of her.

"Lola, could you look at Amai Mask like your heart holds him dear above everything else? All I'm getting here is 'I have a cactus in my dress'."

With an aggravated noise, the albino woman took a deep breath and gave another attempt. "Better?"

"Worse, actually." Taiki sighed. This was going to be a long day. "Just think of something that makes you happy."

"Happy…? I can try but with this guy don't expect any miracles." Another breath and a thought came to mind. Lola locked gazes with Amai-Mask but thought back to Saitama and their wedding day.

A bride's day was supposedly to be filled with extravagancies, hundreds of guests, a brand new expensive designer dress and a long walk down the aisle, but that hadn't been exactly the case for Saitama and Lola. In fact, it had been downright the opposite. Instead of spending an endless amount of money, there had been a tight budget due to a need to save up, there had been no guests to speak of, no parents, no friends, no colleagues, the dress had to be a very simplistic rental and the aisle had never come into question due to the two having had a simple civil marriage ceremony with a public official at an office. But none of that had mattered, not to them who agreed that no amount of money spent could ever truly translate on how strongly they felt towards each other, even after having spent a rather short amount of time dating before taking a jump towards a shared life together.

"Yes! Perfect!" Taiki felt more than relieved when he saw the shift in Lola's eyes and posture. "Get ready people, we are gonna start filming and we need to be fast, we have a lot of work to do!"

From there on out things seemed to go smoothly, or at least as smoothly as possible with Lola wanting to break in the pretty face of her partner any time he so much as opened his mouth or, well, did anything to be honest. Even when thinking about her husband there was something off about the blue-haired man that she couldn't quite put her finger on and it bugged the hell out of her, especially with how much eye contact was required of her and Amai Mask.

When lunch had come around Lola had almost literally thrown herself away from Amai Mask and off the stage into the buffet table, being scolded in the process by Taiki to mind the bridal dress and avoid getting it dirty at all costs, due to it being the only one they had. With a carefree 'sure thing', the woman had taken into her possession almost instantly a plate with two donuts, five cookies, a croissant with strawberry jam, a slice of cake and a bottle of peach soda. People all around were shocked to see a model, to put it bluntly, stuff her gullet with sweets without restraints but no one dared to say anything, knowing how temperamental some of them could be and also due to Taiki having been given a death-stare when he had attempted to broach the subject.

Right after the thirty-minute break shooting had restarted and resumed its almost-smooth course. Well, during the shooting of the ballroom dance sequence Lola had to restrain herself from gleefully stepping on Amai Mask's feet with her heels (why on earth she had to wear them when the dress more than covered them was beyond her) but the thought of the payout by the end of the day had been enough to deter the violent urges her most primal side yelled out for her to perform.

Unfortunately, like many good things, the endurance Lola put herself though had come to an end just as the filming was also on its last stretch.

"Perfect. Thank you all so much for all your hard work this far, we just have to get the final shot and production is wrapped up for today. So chin up and let's do this before we go over the budget line!" The director yelled out.

"Finally." The albino woman thanked the heavens her personal hell was coming to an end, especially since the hand on her lower back really made her want to rip out the arm it was attached to. "What's the final shot? I have to say I do or something like that?"

"Not quite. We're going to need a kiss to end the music video with."

"… Uh… Yeah, I'm out of here."

Shoving Amai Mask away from her, Lola picked up the sides of her dress and stepped off the stage, intending on going directly to the dressing room and doing away with all the make-up and the offending garments she'd agreed to wear for the day. Her face was set in an unreadable expression while everyone else sported one of shock and even horror in some cases, their whole plans having been thrown off by what they deemed was an impossible scenario: a woman refusing to kiss the handsomely famous celebrity/A-class hero.

"What?! No! Where are you going?! We only need this one more scene!" Taiki rushed off and stepped in front of his runaway bride, his arms spread out and sweat coming off him in waves along with some terror as well.

The man had almost had a heart-attack when his star Sayuri didn´t manage to come through at the beginning of the day, his screams probably having been heard through the set and entire street to boot. That had started his hurried search for a replacement by going through his contacts list and hoping someone would accept, but it turned out not many actresses or models were willing to take part in something they couldn´t know about until they were actually present or weren´t allowed to know the payoff to. At his last resort, Taiki went to the only place he knew that had a man he could trust, his best friend Sakumo, and lo and behold a miracle had happened and he´d managed to find someone who agreed to his conditions. Now he found that miracle slipping through his fingers while his certain career death loomed in the horizon.

"I am not, I repeat, am not kissing him, no matter how much you pay me."

"I can double our pay!"

"No."

"Triple it, then!"

"Again, no."

"I will offer you twenty times the money if you agree to finish this." An all-too well familiar voice echoed though the set, making the albino woman turn around in surprise.

Everyone present sucked in a breath at the offer. The hero was willing to pay off his own pocket to a woman that wasn´t even famous to kiss him in front of cameras. Now that was definitely more than an impossible scenario.

Taiki felt his eyes widen. "Amai Mask-san!" That man was truly a saint.

"You what?" Lola took a step forward, her features taking on a doubting look. He couldn´t be serious… Right? "I don't think I heard you right the first time."

"I am willing to pay you twenty times as much as you were offered if you go through with this last scene. We have went through the entire day and we´re already on top of the deadline. I do not wish that any inconveniences hurt the work of all the people who put their time and effort into this project. Please, accept my offer and do the right thing. Not for me, but for all the people in this studio, I plead you."

"… Get the cameras ready because I am doing this only once. What you get is what you'll be stuck with, so better make this count."

The woman went back to the stage and everyone else silently took their places when dawned upon them that the shooting would be done and wrapped up, their prayers having been answered in the form of Amai Mask´s generosity.

Standing in front of the blue-haired man, Lola placed her hands in his shoulders and stepped closer, felling the man´s own hands rest on her lower back, nearly missing the instructions of the director for the cameras to resume recording and his cue for them to perform the final scene.

Everything else from that point on was almost as if she was living in slow motion.

Their lips kept coming closer and closer and all she could do was close her eyes and think of something else. Or rather someone. Her handsome and sweet husband who loved her with all his heart despite of what she was and would never turn his back on her under any circumstance.

When their lips finally met instead of a warm feeling rushing though her body, Lola felt a shiver go down her spine and it took all of her willpower not to pull away from its icy source. The only way to explain the feeling was almost like her energy was being sucked by a black hole of pure darkness.

Holding on for a few more seconds, the two parted ways to a sea of applause from the entire crew, signifying the scene had ended and all their work was finally completed. Lola looked at all the people who had just witnessed her lock lips with the notorious hero, color draining from her face, and then to the said man himself, who was sporting a soft smile as he gazed at the crowd and then shifted his eyes onto her.

Now she knew what had made her so weary of Amai Mask. She couldn't pick up anything from him. Nothing at all, almost as if he didn't have any emotions.

What in the world was that man? Was he even human?

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**AN: Was the wait worth it? Let me know what you think of this fic so far in the comments ;)**


	11. Truth and Terror

**Well... Here I am... After I don't know how long on hiatus. I have to thank everyone who reviewed and left me encouraging words, because I banged this one out in less than a day and without you all would have been impossible to do so.**

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"Man, whatever you did to get that huge bonus must have impressed the big guys, because I could get used to this lifestyle." Kaiyo smiled at the small paper box in his hands.

"…All I did was agree to take you to J-City for today and buy you a box of mochi. I wanted to spend some time alone with you." Lola shrugged her shoulders and ruffled her son's hair.

Earlier in the day the monster-woman suggested out of the blue that the two of them could spend the Sunday away in J-City, in a sort-of mother/son celebration of her recent success with the latest temporary job. Kaiyo had been a little suspicious at first, that was until the promise of sweets swayed him into a resounding yes. He'd hurled himself into the closet, got dressed in record time and was dragging his mother out the door with a hasty goodbye to Saitama and Genos.

Opposite of her son, Lola was dreading the day. In actuality, Lola was keen on getting her secret out of her system as fast as possible but knew there was no way Kaiyo would react well to it. After stewing on it for a few days she'd come to the conclusion that it was best to rip out the proverbial truth band-aid in one clean motion. Well… or at least get a practice round in before actually doing it with her husband.

Now, there they were, walking around the streets of J-City, bribery already accomplished in the form of mochi. All that was left was ruin the day by opening her mouth and confessing to her shame.

"Correction, full-priced hand-made mochi from a fancy store." Preparing to open the box, Kaiyo's hand suddenly stopped and dropped down. "Now that I think of it, what did you do anyway? I thought it was just a one-off gig as a model for ridiculous high-fashion clothes that only blind rich people buy to fill in the void in their lives."

"Yeah… erm… That might be the reason why I brought you on this trip." With a deep breath, she prepared to let the truth come out.

"What? Don't tell me you look so hideous in those clothes you'll be laughed at every time you go out. Because if that's the case I'd appreciate you stayed away from me whenever we go outside the apartment."

"Trust me, it's a lot worse than becoming the laughing stock of all cities and-"

"Help! Somebody!" A woman's voice rang out.

Just as the pair was rounding the corner, an explosion rocked the nearby area as a group of rather large aquatic-based monsters appeared and began causing destruction unprovoked. There were already a few damaged buildings and a couple of crushed cars beneath their massive feet, but it didn't seem to be enough to sate the monsters.

"We, the Seafolk Clan now rule the surface! Resistance is futile!" The octopus-faced one roared out to the crowd of terrified civilians in from of him with a terrified man in the grip of one of his tentacles. The monster was ready to start squeezing the life out of his human victim until something hit the appendage holding onto his prey, causing it to break and let go of the man. "You'll pay for that, human!" He roared at the black-clad hero that landed in front of him.

"Rising in popularity and currently rank 11th in A-Class… Everyone's favorite hero, Stinger, is here to help. At your service, everyone!" The young man held a pose that brought attention to the lance he was carrying that, oddly enough, had a big bamboo shoot at the end of it

"It's Stinger!" "We're saved!" "Go for it!" Voices were heard throughout the crowd that shouted encouraging words at the hero who'd appeared out of nowhere to save the day.

"Huh, I guess we should move back and let him deal with this." Lola pulled out her cellphone and wrote out a text at top speed and sent it to Saitama. The day would be going from bad to worse sometime soon, she knew it.

Kaiyo nodded and crossed his arms. "He's gonna get creamed, big time."

"No doubt about it. Now, let's go." The woman grabbed her son's hand and pulled him back to the street they'd come from and began running, dragging the boy along with her. "We need to get to the stadium before everyone else, it's a designated safety area for monster attacks."

"What? Why?"

A siren echoed though the city. "This is an announcement from the Hero Association. The threat level is Tiger. All citizens, please stay clear of the area."

Lola didn't slow down her pace, but couldn't increase it much more if Kaiyo was to keep up with her. They had to get to the shelter and hope time was on their side. "Seafolk. I know that name and it means nothing but trouble. These are just low-level thugs and, if I'm right, the big monster-man himself is not far behind. Tiger level my ass, this is going to escalate to Demon easily."

Just as the woman finished her sentence another siren rang out through the streets. "Emergency evacuation warning. The threat level has been raised from Tiger to Demon. All residents of J-City, please evacuate immediately. I repeat. All residents of J-City, please evacuate immediately."

As if the proverbial floodgates had opened, people began running and screaming as the pair weaved their way through the human-formed maze occupying the streets. Everyone the mother/son duo passed was in a panicked state due to the newly-issued warning, hysteria running amuck though the hordes of civilians that sought to either leave or take shelter.

A chill went through Kaiyo and his pace faltered enough to almost make him trip and get lost in the sea of people, but Lola kept her firm hold on his hand and slowed down for long enough to allow him to regain his pace.

"What the hell was that?!" The young boy shouted with a scared expression on his face.

"Darn it. He's here already." Lola cursed their luck. "That, was your built-in sensor of danger and it just reacted to the presence of someone who is hostile and far stronger than you."

"What about you? Couldn't you take on whoever he is?"

"I could very likely defeat him, but the weather that's coming wouldn't help. Leaving the city should be pretty much impossible at this point, we need shelter and to blend in with the humans."

"Then why are we running if you could take on whoever's here?"

"I'd prefer not to be the center of attention of a monster mash. I already sent your dad a text so he should get here soon to take care of this."

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When the pair got to the domed arena a crowd was already heading inside the building, their idea also having been to seek shelter from the invading monsters, but there weren't that many people there on account of most having taken a chance at driving away from them incoming hostile monsters. A few drips began falling from the sky as the two made it inside, turning soon enough into a sizeable downpour that drenched the entire city from top to bottom.

Inside the building there were mostly families with children, likely having taken a weekend trip to J-City before having been caught up in the Seafolk attack. Several smaller kids clung to their parents while sobbing or full-on crying due to the fear of one of the monsters getting to them while their parents did their best to keep them placated in the midst of the situation.

Lola and Kaiyo had taken a place against the wall near the back door at the white-haired woman's insistence, who already anticipated her plan going haywire if her luck these days was anything to go by.

Lola let out a sigh and ran a hand down her face. "It's raining like there's no tomorrow. If there were heroes trying to handle him they're as good as dead by now."

"Who's him anyway? You keep referring to this guy and I get the feeling of being left on your train of though." Kaiyo looked up at his mother and did his best to keep anyone else from hearing him talk. If any of the humans found out there were already monsters inside the emergency shelter with them they would have an uncontrollable panicked mob on their hands.

The woman looked Kaiyo in the eyes and pursed her lips, pausing before answering. "The Deep Sea King. And no more questions about him, lest anyone here hears it and we cause mass panic about the Demon-level monster that is likely heading this way."

"Sooo, you brought me here because…? And I mean J-City, not the shelter." That got him a glare from his mother. "What? It's not a question about the monster guy."

Lola let out a sigh and leaned her head back against the wall. "I may have done something bad, and I mean 'bad' written in capital letters in the worst text font imaginable."

"…Mom, what did you do exactly?"

"I may have, in a certain way, participated in a music video."

"That doesn't sound that bad. What, was it one of those with a cringy music or something?" He remembered with distaste those catchy songs that caught on every Summer and everyone seemed to know and were heard everywhere to the point of making him want to rip his ears out.

"Not exactly." Damn, this was going to be a tough one. Just like a band-aid her ass, nothing of that sort could ever hurt this bad. "I was in a wedding dress."

Kaiyo nodded slowly, but knew there was bound to be more on account of how his mother was acting. "Go on."

Here she went. It was time to spit it out and face up to what she'd done. "…And may have, somewhat, in a way, against my better judgement… kissed a man."

"YOU WHAT?!"

"Shhh, not so loud!"

"Well, excuse me, but you just said you, in your own free will, kissed a guy that wasn't dad and that said kiss is gonna be seen by other people!" He gestured wildly at her, unsure of how else to react to what he's just heard.

Kaiyo couldn't believe what his own mother had just told him. She had voluntarily kissed some random man for money. One thing was to be a hostess, who listened to boring stories and laughed at jokes that fell flat told by men that didn't have any qualms about paying a woman they knew nothing about for a few minutes of interaction to make them feel better about their lives, another was to actually kiss someone she knew nothing about!

"Yeah…not just 'other people'. By everyone."

"Ye- wait, what? Everyone?" He didn't like the sound of that revelation. "Whose music video was it?" Silence was his only response, but Kaiyo didn't let himself be deterred. "Mom, whose music video was it?"

"amaimask." Was the whispered quick response accompanied by a hand running down Lola's face.

"Repeat that, louder and slower this time."

A groan and a sigh. There was no good way to do it, was there? "Amai freaking Mask, ok?"

"No… you kissed the most popular hero, while wearing a wedding dress, let your self be filmed and in a way that guarantees everyone on the face of this planet will know? What the actual hell?!"

"Language!"

"Well, forgive me. What the actual fuck. Is that better?" Kaiyo didn't tend to swear, claiming it was an easy way out to seem cool, but there were no other words that fit the moment or his emotions. "What do you think is gonna happen when dad sees it?"

"That's why I brough you here today. It was my sort-of practice round before I faced the man I love and who loves me back and whatever god that maybe be I screwed up so bad that I don't think I'd forgive myself for it." Sling back against the wall, the woman sat down and pulled her knees against her to rest her head on them.

Even if she was a monster, or even because she was one, Lola had always taught Kaiyo to be loyal to his family above all else. And what had she done? She'd taken the lesson her mother had made her promise to take along for the rest of her life, the same lesson she'd preached to her own son time and time again, and tossed it out the window for a quick cash grab in a way that made sure her mistake would be seen across the continent. She had really proven to be the monster in her relationship despite the fact it had nothing to do with her origins… Broken bones didn't work on Saitama but a broken heart could do the trick better than anything else.

"So, what, a tutorial before the final boss? You're missing a lot of EXP in there."

"And that means what, exactly?"

"I'm gonna be completely honest and say I have no idea. He could be fine walk out on us. He could snap and goodbye apartment. He could also snap and goodbye Amai Mask. He could snap in a third scenario and go monster. Again, go monster and also kill Amai Mask. Or he could be completely fine with it all."

"I really don't want to find out the odds of those scenarios but I can't keep quiet and let him find out on his own. Besides-" Lola's words were cut short when she finally felt the Deep Sea King approaching, stopping just outside of where they were hiding. She had the experience of hiding herself among humans from other monsters but her son was too young to have that technique mastered well enough to hide if a rather powerful one focused on him. "Damn. We're out of time." Shuffling onto her knees, she grabbed Kaiyo by the shoulders and looked him in the yes with the most serious expression she could muster to get her point across. "Whatever you do, do not try to fight, your best shot is to run."

"He's right outside, right? I felt it too." There was a sinking feeling deep in Kaiyo's core. Taking on a couple of weaker A-Class heroes was one thing, but this was a Demon level enemy that was ready to tear through anyone that got in his way.

"Yes. If push comes to shove, I'll keep him busy while you run away from here as fast as possible."

"What?! No! I'm not gonna leave you alone!"

"Kaiyo! Look at me and listen!" It pained her to be doing that but she knew that she was the only one in that building capable enough to at least halt the Deep Sea King in his tracks for long enough for Saitama to arrive. Even if it means showing her true self in the process. "You're my son and it is my job to protect you no matter what. So, when I tell you to run, you run and don't stop until your legs have given out or you're sure you're safe. Do I make myself clear?"

"…Yes… mom."

There was no more time for the mother and son to discuss anything else when the ceiling next to the entrance caved in with no warning and a humongous amphibian/fish-like creature appeared, grinning at the crowd with rows of sharp teeth.

"Greetings… and goodbye." The monster said, his luminous yellow eyes scanning the crowd of potential human victims.

The Deep Sea King couldn't believe his luck. All of those humans trapped in one place, like animals to the slaughter, ready to become his next victims. He would cement his reign on the surface with a sea of blood shed by any human he encountered and his kind would rule the entire world as it was supposed to be, the strong dominating the weak. He'd already taken on what were supposed to be some of the strongest humans that existed and won without even getting close to feeling some sort of fatigue, so there was no way anyone could stop him when he was at his best, the rain providing an addition boost to his body.

"P-Please, wait!" A blond man in an aviator jacket stepped forward, sweat clearly seen running down his face. "We surrender! We will comply to all demand you have. But, please, do not attack. I beg of you."

"What's he doing?!" Kaiyo whispered, flabbergasted at the human who tried to beg for mercy from such a monster.

"Gaining time." Lola whispered back while checking her phone. "Crap. Your dad isn't answering his phone." She'd already sent a few texts but all her attempts at calling had been met with voicemail. "Saitama… please get here soon."

"Surrender? I've come to kill you. All your deaths are inevitable!" The monster laughed at the ridiculous attempt by the small-fry to beg for the lives of his species. He was itching for some more bloodshed and knew that after dealing with all the humans in the building he'd go on to lead his armies for a requiem across the continent. "As for my demands… how about I demand you all scream nicely while I slaughter you?"

"We'll fight you!"

Out of nowhere, a duo of clearly amateur heroes stepped forward, one with a white shirt and an afro and the other was some sort of robot with boxing gloves. Both were also clearly intimidated by the monster they'd be facing but didn't show signs of stepping down.

"I may be ranked lowest at 38, but I'm still an A-Class hero." Another one came forward to join his comrades, clad in a suit made from a snake-like monster and striking a martial arts pose. "We can do this."

"I-Im a hero too! Allback Man is here!" The blond man shouted.

"Heroes!" "The heroes are here!" "They'll save us!" Murmurs spread throughout the scared civilians, a semblance of hope finding a place in their hearts, no matter how small the flame burned in the presence of such an intimidating enemy.

Further in the back in the crowd, Kaiyo clutched his mother's arm. "Mom? Can they…?"

"No, they can't." Whispered Lola with a shake of her head. "At best they'll die to get us a few more minutes. I promised to keep you alive but whether they live or die isn't my business."

"One…Two… Attack!" Shouted Sneck, and the four heroes jumped forward, determined to defend everyone depending on them.

…With one blow the Deep Sea King knocked out all of the opponents who attempted to face him, sending them flying back into the walls. They were merely unconscious but he would save them for last, letting them see that their efforts had been in vain and that all the humans had been killed because they hadn't been strong enough to face him, the terror of the depths, ruler of all Seafolk.

"Hahahaha! Is that the best you've got?" He laughed in the faces of the terrified humans. He loved to crush his victims' hopes before doing away with them, their expressions making it all the more worth it.

"Are you one of the Seafolk?" A voice cut through the laugh of the monster, making him look upward at the figure seen through the hole in the ceiling where he'd came through.

"Is that… Genos?" Kaiyo smiled at the cyborg who'd came to save the day, his heart pounding away in his ears.

Lola pulled her son against her and exhaled a sigh. "Yes… He'll buy us some more time."

"Buy us some more… You mean he can't win? But he's an S-Class!"

"He may be an S-Class Hero, but he's also unexperienced and up against someone far out of his league."

Whatever happened from now on would be on Geno's shoulders. Lola hoped he'd come through alive but if it came to her to intervene she'd wait until it was strictly necessary.

But she wasn't sure on weather she'd step in if her friend's life came on the line.

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**I cannot promise a date to come back with a next chapter, unfortunately, but I will try my hardest to come up with it as soon as possible :D**


	12. Monster (guilt)

**AN: I have to address this but I completely understand why some people don't like Lola's actions. Looking back I don't like them either. I may (definitely) have blundered a bit with ch.10 and even now, in this chapter, with the resolution, but there's reasons this is for free: I am no professional writer, I have no idea where I'm going with this story and there****'s**** no definite update schedule to speak of.**

**Anyway, if you like this fic, or not, or you're in-between, thanks for reading :)**

* * *

"You are one of the Seafolk, correct?"

If Genos still had his human heart it would have been beating a mile a minute due to the close call he'd just encountered. A large number of civilians, among them many young children, were cornered inside the stadium designated as an emergency building in case of a disaster and were about to be killer by a monster. It had almost been like reliving his family dying at the hands of that bloodthirsty cyborg, helpless and unable to fight back.

The young cyborg jumped down from the ceiling and stepped between the people and the monster. His back may have been to the crowd that had attempted to seek shelter but instead had found itself trapped, but he knew everyone was looking at him, depending on him to be the one who took down the sea monster and allowed them to escape that deadly encounter with their lives.

"What if I am?" Replied the Deep Sea King, unimpressed by the appearance of his new self-proclaimed opponent. To him he looked like another one of those oddities that had stood in his way, a nuisance, but only a minor one. "You must be another soldier-"

"I am here to eliminate you." Unleashing a massive discharge from his core, Genos ran up to the beast and hit him with a right hook, triggering an explosion that was sure to vaporize anything in its path and that took down a huge portion of the wall from top to bottom along with some of the other buildings outside. "Was that the last of them?" He asked, turning to the crowd.

"Wow!" "Awesome!" "Amazing!" "He did it!" "Go Demon Cyborg!" Cheers resounded throughout the stadium, hearts alleviating and hopes refilled after witnessing such an incredible display of power from the blond hero.

"He did it!" Kaiyo cheered and looked at his mother, but instead of seeing a mirrored look on her face he saw dread.

Lola stood up and attempted to gain the attention of the young cyborg. "Genos, behind-!"

There had been no time for the woman to finish her warning. The Deep Sea King roared back to life from beneath the rubble, rising up faster than the human eye could see, caught Genos by his right arm, the same one that had been used to unleash the attack, and punched the cyborg's torso to the side, effectively sending him crashing into the wall while getting an arm ripped off in the process.

"Now I'm angry! I'll tear you to shreds!" The monster said in a low voice, a bloodlust clinging onto his eyes, and tossed the now useless limb abide and spat out some drops of blue blood.

"I let my guard down again… I never learn…" Genos groaned softly as he got himself back onto his feet with some difficulty. He couldn't let it end like that, all of those people were counting on him for protection, all of those who could lose their lives in the fraction of a second… "Those who can walk, leave the shelter now! I cannot promise I will win. Run while I keep him busy!"

Those words had sparked a panic and everyone began running towards the back doors, each person wanting to leave as fast as possible and away from the monster that would surely kill them as soon as he was finished with the hero.

"None of you monkeys will escape me!"

With the threat uttered, Genos launched himself at his opponent and unleashed another series of blows, but this time the Deep Sea King wasn't going to let himself be humiliated and retributed the actions. The two powerhouses locked into a battle that went beyond the abilities of a normal person, neither willing to give out and be declared defeated, one fighting to attain more power for his newfound reign on the surface and the other fighting for the lives of the innocent.

"You need to do something!" Kaiyo pulled at his mother's shirt, not wanting to wait and find out how the battle would turn out.

"There's still time!" Lola felt her breath quicken and clenched her fists. Saitama would be there soon… All Genos needed to do was hold on for a little more time…

"You can do it!" A child's voice was heard from the crowd.

Everyone who heard the little girl's cry froze at that moment. She'd just called attention onto herself from a rampaging monster.

"Shut up!" The Deep Sea King spat at the offending creature, along with a glob of his acidic spit.

The deadly projectile flew through the air and was about to hit its target, the small child's eyes widening in fear- Then, out of nowhere, the cyborg hero was standing there in front of her and taking the brunt of the attack. The acid made short work out of dissolving any organic material and even some of the metal it encountered, the Genos' insides coming into view for the terrified spectators as his eyes widened while he stared at the girl he'd just saved, fighting his body's response to go into shock. His other arm fell off and by the time the acid had done its job there was very little of his torso left, a stroke of pure luck his core hadn't been affected but he could no longer fight in that state.

A green clawed hand, accompanied by a chuckled, grabbed Genos' head and tossed him into the wall once more, this time following with a punch that created a hole in the structure and tossed the hero out into the open street, rain poring down onto his battered, battle-damaged body.

"Mom, do something!" Kaiyo was in full panic mode. The rampaging monster had taken care of Genos as if the blond man had been no more than a flea nipping at his sides and would be killing him if nothing were to be done.

Lola's body was stiff as she watched the young cyborg she'd welcomed into her home be beaten withing an inch of its life. She was now the only one present capable of halting the monster and yet- "I can… still wait…" She dry-swallowed.

"If you had just focused on me, you could have easily dodged my ball of acid." The Deep Sea King approached the fallen hero, a smug grin taking over his expression. "Instead you sacrificed yourself to save a runt. You're a fool, but I give you credit for giving me a few scratches. Of course, they've already healed." He had sacrificed some of his strength to temporarily power-up his healing abilities and with the rain he was under he'd soon be back in top condition, as if nothing had happened. "Now, die."

"Mom!"

"Justice Crash!"

Out of nowhere a bicycle collided with the monster's back, the beast barely feeling anything but becoming rather annoyed at the offending action just as he was about to stomp the latest human to defy him to death.

"Eh?" Turning around, the Deep Sea King saw a rather unimpressive-looking human male dressed in rather rudimentary protective green and brown gear. Another one for the slaughter, it seemed, only this one looked like he wouldn't hold up to nearly a tenth of what he'd put the others through. Pity, there wouldn't be much entertainment there.

"The righteous cyclist, Mumen Rider is here!" The newcomer shouted, despite the obvious fear in his voice, and positioned himself in an attacking position, albeit a rather obviously untrained one.

"It's Mumen Rider." "Mumen Rider came for us." The people began to gather at the edge of the hole in the side of the stadium and murmured amongst themselves. There wasn't much hope there but they clung onto it, desperate for a way out of that horrible situation that every time it seemed to have an end to it the door closed with a deafening roar.

"It's like a kitten facing a crocodile, he's got no chance!" Enough was enough and even if his first encounter with the cyclist hero hadn't gone positively in any way the situation was turning out into a bloodbath. "Mom, just do something already!" There was a sense of regret from Kaiyo's heart towards at the last words he'd exchanged with the hero, at the affirmation he'd do pretty much what the Deep Sea King was doing if it ever became more convenient. This was how real monster behaved.

A deep shaky breath. "Just… wait a bit more…"

Mumen Rider ran at the monster with all his might and threw a punch with all he had… only for his arm to get caught in an enormous clawed hand.

"You're boring." Said the monster, who then proceeded to shake up and down the young hero by the arm as if he were a rag doll. "No fun at all." He commented as he tossed his victim to the side as if the scenario was that one of a child throwing away a broken toy. Shrugging off the battered hero he'd tossed aside, the Deep Sea King turned his attentions back on Genos. "My apologies, I almost forgot to kill you. I won't waste any more time, don't worry."

"Justice tackle!" Mumen Rider threw himself at the monster, despite his arm being clearly broken, and pulled together all of his remaining strength. He had to defend all of those defenseless people! He couldn't let anyone die without giving it his all and even beyond that!

"Pathetic." With no real struggle the monster swatted the hero away, leaving him to lay down on the street in a battered heap. "You'll be next, just wait for your turn, monkey."

"No one expects much…" Everything hurt, all of his nerves were on fire, his body begging to shut down, but Mumen Rider still found the energy to slowly get back up. "…from me." He was on his knees now. It was more than certain he wouldn't make it out alive, nevertheless he wouldn't give up. Not while people were still in danger. "They think a C-class Hero won't be much help. I know that better than anyone!" It hurt to breathe, to speak, or to do anything else. "I'm not good enough for B-class. I'm weak, I know that much! No one has to tell me I have no chances of defeating you. I already know that!" Finally, he was standing back up in front of the beast. He was a hero, and heroes protected everyone regardless of the consequences!

"What are you babbling about? Begging for your life?"

"And yet I must keep trying! It's not about winning or losing! It's about saving all those who depend on me!"

Everyone in the crowd was listening to the hero's words, tears coming to their eyes. Mumen Rider knew that he couldn't possibly win, that the odds were stacked up against him, and yet there he was, laying down his life for the sake of them. People began crying as the future held no secrets on how the battle would end.

"Mumen Rider, you can do it!" "You can do it!" "We believe in you!" "Beat him!" "We're counting on you!" "He's got no chance against you!" "You're the best!" Shouts began emerging from the onlookers, words of encouragement flowing in support of the man that had conquered their hearts.

"Please…" Kaiyo was rubbing at his eyes. "…mom, I'm begging you to- Mom?"

Lola wasn't there anymore.

"Enough of your rambling. It's time to finish you off." It wasn't as much boredom anymore as it was him getting annoyed at the insignificant flea that fancied itself a fighter, so the Deep Sea King prepared to put it out of its misery for good when a white-haired woman showed up in front of his target. "What? Another monkey willing to throw its life away?"

"I'm here to put a stop to this." Lola replied in a flat voice while looking straight into the eyes of the Demon-level threat.

Lighting flashed in the distance, thunder roaring as the two monsters assessed their opponent, one well-aware of what the other was capable of while the second wondered if there was anything to the human female who fancied herself capable of standing her ground against him.

"Miss, please leave!" Mumen Rider pleaded in a panic while coughing up some more blood and holding onto his broken arm. "It's my job to-" He paused when a hand lifted up in front of his face.

"Shove it, bicycle hero. You're no match for him. You know it. I know it. They know it." Putting her arm back down, Lola straightened up her back and squared her shoulders. If things would go as she was planning them to, a monster would lie dead where it stood while the other would be forced to leave their family behind. "I'm sorry for taking this long to intervene, but this is where this ends, Deep Sea King, Abyss."

"Who's that?" "How did she get there?" "Is she a hero?" "Can she go against the monster?" Questions swam amongst the crowd about the woman who had come between the hero and the monster who'd already taken so many down with ease. No one knew her, they didn't know what she was capable of or even if she was registered with the Association. All they could do was watch as the scene unfolded.

Meanwhile, hearing the questions, Kaiyo wanted to shout out from the rooftops she was his mother, the woman who would save them all despite what she was, but knew better than to do so. He knew what was coming and it would not look good on her and if anyone put two and two together on who she resembled in her original form it would be a field day for the Hero Association, who would declare open season on their first opportunity.

"Oh? How interesting. You know my original name." The Deep Sea King smirked. This one could prove to be different despite first appearances.

"Yes. But you won't be around to tell anyone." lola opened her mouth, took in a deep breath, readying, and her third eye was about to open when a red gloved hand covered her forehead.

"No need, Lola, I can handle this."

"Saitama!"

The hero for fun smiled at his wife. "I got your text. And a call meant for someone else. You can stop now."

Saitama had arrived alongside Genos at J-City but gotten separated shortly after and since he'd left his phone home after leaving in a hurry he couldn't know where exactly Lola and Kaiyo were, so there had been no other choice but to wander around in the streets beneath the pouring rain in search of the monsters that had attacked the city. Shortly after that he'd encountered a man riding a bicycle who offered to give him a lift and they struck up a conversation on the monsters running amuck.

* * *

"_Hey, are you scared? You got separated from the S-Class Genos, right? The enemy threat is Demon-level. A monster so formidable that even ganged up heroes in B and S-Classes couldn't stop it."_

"_Are you S-Class?"_

"_N-No, I'm C-Class… __Laugh if you want to."_

"_I'm not laughing. I'm also in C-Class. A hero is still a hero, no matter the class."_

"_I'm Mumen Rider, a hero, just like you."_

"_I'm- Wait, was that a naked guy running past us?"_

"_What?"_

"_He may have been taking a bath and got lost, I'm going after him!"_

"_Hey, wait!"_

"_Go on without me!"_

* * *

When Saitama got back to where he'd gotten separated from Mumen Rider, after losing sight of the naked man he was pursuing, he found a phone ringing on the ground, likely having been dropped by the cyclist hero. Answering the call he found himself talking to someone belonging to the Hero Association who, while hesitating for a few seconds, told him where to go and find the monsters attacking the city after learning they were talking to another hero.

And that was pretty much how Saitama had arrived just in time to see his wife standing to for Mumen Rider in front of a really ugly fish-monster thing.

"Oh, look, yet another piece of garbage washed up on my shore." At that point the rain had all but given him back his full strength, but it was highly amusing that a hairless human in gaudy clothing thought he had a chance.

Looking around, the bald man's eyes landed on the broken form of his disciple. "Genos! Are you still alive?!"

"Sen…sei…" It was barely a whisper, but it was a sign Geno's body still hadn't given up.

Letting out a relieved sigh, the hero for fun thumbed at the monster. "Hang on for a second. I've got to pound this Seafreak or whatever its name is."

"I heard that!"

Lola grabbed Mumen Rider and jumped back just in time to avoid getting caught by the worst of the shockwave caused by a punch the Deep Sea King delivered to Saitama's head. The hero still stood in the same place, as if nothing had happened, but all of the water in the vicinity was repelled and the rain momentarily stopped falling, indicating how strong the monster had become.

"Impressive. You're still on your feet after one of my punches. Clearly you're different from the rest of this trash."

"What? Your punch was just too weak, that's all."

"Who is that?" "A hero?" "That head…" "I know him from the hero registry." "That's a C-Class rookie." "C-Class?" "So we're still going to get killed." "But that punch didn't hurt him at all." "That's your imagination. You saw how many heroes were blown away by that thing." Could there be a light at the end of the tunnel? Or would they still be the victims of a slaughter after the beast was done with the new hero?

"I am the Deep Sea King, Lord of the Seas. The sea is the mother to all life on Earth. In other words, as ruler of the seas, I am the pinnacle of all living organisms on this planet! To defy me means-"

There had been no more talking from the monster after that, since he now had a hole in his torso.

The Deep Sea King fell down, dead after one punch. The clouds had also disappeared from the skies, taking away the rain with them, even the one on the ground had been completely wiped out from sight, no signs of the storm left behind. The sun shined once more with nothing to block its rays from illuminating the one in a million scenario of a powerful monster defeated by a single hero in one swoop.

"WHAT?!" "Awesome!" "That was amazing!" "Incredible!" The civilians erupted in shouts at the sight of the fearsome monsters having been vanquished for good with such ease. "Wooo! Go, dad!" With one in particular feeling a wave of relief washing over him.

"Man, that was kinda lame. I had all my hopes up and everything." Saitama's shoulders dropped as he gazed at yet another opponent he took out in one punch. He then walked over to where Lola was holding up Mumen Rider with one arm around her shoulder. "Are you two alright? And where's Kaiyo?"

"I'm alright, but this one here is, yes, definitely knocked down." She set Mumen Rider down with care not to injure him further. He'd need a trip to the hospital but he'd survive in the end. "Oh, and Kaiyo is back there with the civilians. Thanks for the save." And what a save it had been, just in the nick of time. Lola's heart had been racing so much when she stood up to the Deep Sea King she might have pulled a muscle if that was even possible! "How about you pick up Genos, we make a stop at the doctor who handles him and then we get home. I'll make udon, there's some noodles I got for half-price we need to eat."

"Yeah. That sounds nice."

"All it took was one punch!" "He was awesome!" "What a hero!" "He's too strong for a C-Class!" The cheers were still going strong, people hugging each other and jumping up and down, some even crying in relief after being saved from certain death. A hero had came to their rescue and saved the day with only one punch!

"Yeah! That's my-!"

"Or maybe, that monster wasn't all that tough?" A haughty nasally voice cut through the joyous outburst.

The cheers stopped.

"But so many heroes went down fighting it." A man in his twenties pointed out. They'd all seen it, numerous heroes taken out in front of their eyes before the last one had come.

The man who'd cut the celebration short merely crossed his arms and shrugged. "That just means those heroes were weaklings."

"…Maybe… I suppose that monster didn't look all that tough when he killed it."

"After all, a C-Class took it out with a single punch! What's that to say about the heroes that went down? They may call themselves A-Class or S-Class, but that doesn't mean anything."

"How about you shove it?! They all risked their lives for us!" Kaiyo came though the crowd, an angry expression marring his face. "Are you saying you'd have done it too? Because I don't remember it."

"Yeah, anyone can do that. Heroes are the ones that defeat monsters. It all ended well this time, so whatever. But it's really annoying when the supposed heroes are just regular people."

The eleven-year-old jumped up, grabbed a fistful of the offending man's collar and pulled him down. "Watch it, assface! My dad was the one who beat that monster and he did it to save everyone, you included, so how about a little respect before I kick your face in?!"

"So what? You dad just happens to be a little stronger than all those weaklings who got beaten for nothing! The fact is that we're funding an association that's all a big farce, just like all the so-called heroes it promotes!"

"Why you-"

"Hahahaha! Today was my lucky day!" Out of the blue, Saitma threw his hands up and began laughing.

"Saitma? What are you doing?" Lola whispered to her husband. That wasn't like him at all and taking into account how disappointed he'd been at the short fight she couldn't tell what he was getting at with the spectacle he was putting on.

"The other heroes wore it down so much that beating it was a piece of cake! Good thing I got here late, now I can get all the credit to myself!"

"Dad…" Kaiyo let go of the man, the wind taken out of his sails. His father was finally a hero and he'd just thrown it all away. It just wasn't fair! A man who'd worked so hard for his strength and even when he rose above all others he still chose to stick to the status-quo to placate the general populace.

Lola walked up to her husband and hugged him. "You're a better person than I'll ever be." He shouldn't have had to make that sacrifice even despite not caring about popularity or rankings. All people would see was a fraud when, in her eyes, before them stood the most deserving of all heroes.

"No… I'm just a hero for fun."

* * *

Later in the day…

Nightfall was nearing as the family of three entered the abandoned part of Z-City, the departure from J-City still fresh in their minds. After stopping at Dr. Kuseno's to drop off Genos and being assured the cyborg would live to see another day they headed back home, but none of them was in a hurry to get there.

There had been pretty much no talking between the three, and two of them were particularly unsure of how to break the ice after what they'd witnessed after the defeat of the Deep Sea King. The world of heroes was notoriously fickle like that of celebrities, one could rise above all others but could more than easily fall back down faster than a snap of the fingers and it was always up to the 'audience' how it all happened.

"Don't wait up for me." Kaiyo chose to break the silence as the apartment they called home came into view. "There's some things I need to think about alone."

With a short wave, the boy returned to his monster form and took off into a side street, disappearing into the darkness, leaving his parents behind and hoping, despite all evidence pointing otherwise, everything would return to normal in the morning. Would he sleep that night? Not likely, his thoughts would be keeping him up for sure. Even if he dreaded facing them, sleep would only bring them up in the form of unwanted dreams.

The couple didn't say anything to oppose the actions of their son, opting to continue their way home.

Climbing up the stairs was also done in silence, but, before Saitama could fish out the apartment keys from his suit, a hand on his shoulder stopped his actions.

"I… I…" She had to do it. There had been too much delay to reveal her actions. Despite it not being the best moment to come clean Lola couldn't bear going to sleep once more beside the man she loved while holding onto her secret. "I need to tell you something and if I don't do it now you might find out about it in the worst way possible."

"Oh. Ok."

"Do you remember when I said all that extra money I got was a bonus?"

Remember? He had been thrilled and even proposed for all of them to go out to eat in celebration. Somewhere cheap, of course. "Yeah, it was a really lucky shot."

"Well, not so lucky as much as selling my soul to the highest bidder."

"What are you talking about? Now you got me confused."

This was it. She had to do it and now! "I participated in a music video, while wearing a wedding dress, and kissed Amai Mask on camera for all that money."

Lola closed her eyes, feeling the tears that began to gather at the corners. She'd done it at last, put in the final nail in the coffin of her own making, the first having been agreeing to that kiss in the first place. Every day that had went by without coming clean had stabbed at her heart but there was no denying the real victim was her husband. Betraying his trust was something she'd never done before but the minute money cave into the equation she'd caved in like a weakling!

"Oh. I see." Saitama cocked his head to the side, apathetic expression remaining in place, nothing betraying his air of calmness.

That- That hadn't been the reaction she was expecting! "What do you mean 'you see'?! I just confessed to having, out of my own free will, betrayed your trust, our marriage, for money and that a lot of people will be seeing it first-hand!"

"Well, you kind of did it because we needed the money. When you were a hostess I didn't mind it."

"But I didn't kiss my clients if they threw money at me!" The tears now flowed freely from Lola's eyes, her hands coming up to wipe away at the streaks running down her face. "Just… I don't know, yell at me or something, because that's what anyone would do in a situation like this! Saitama, I betrayed you, our vows, because-" A hug stopped the woman in her tracks.

"Because I refused to spend any of the money Genos gave me even after you lost your job."

The hero had wrapped his arms around his wife's waist and pulled her as close as possible against his torso, letting her face rest against where his neck met his shoulder. Saitama slowly rubbed circles with his thumbs on Lola's back, a gesture he knew tended to calm her down in most situations. He'd figured out something had been bothering her for the past days, already having been familiar with her mannerisms, but knew she would tell him what was on her mind, as she usually did, without him having to pressure her into doing so.

How could he be so calm?! "No! It's not your fault! It's mine! Didn't you hear me?! I kissed another man!"

"What if I said I forgave you, would that make it better?"

"What?" How could he… understand? "You forgive me? But why? Anyone else would-"

"I'm not anyone else, I'm me. Saitama. And I understand why you did what you did. You just wanted to make sure we had money, just like you always did after I started to train to be a hero."

"If you still had your previous emotional level you wouldn't be saying that."

"Maybe. I'm not the same person as before, but neither are you." The man raised a hand to his wife's check and craned up her neck so she was looking at him. Running his thumb under her eye, he wiped away some of the wetness marring her face. "I never stopped loving you, even if I can't show it as well as before, but the feeling's still there. I have all emotions, they're just downplayed, and I don't feel any negative emotions towards you." That was the truth, but he chose to leave out how he felt about the person she claimed to have kissed. "Just promise you'll talk to me before doing anything like that again, alright?"

Giving a light nod, Lola placed her hand atop of his. "What about what happened back in J -City?" Did he love her even after that?

"You mean that big ugly fish?"

"Yes, the Deep Sea King. Not once did I step in to help Genos, not even when he got hit with the acid spit, or before when Mumen Rider got a beating from the Demon-level monster. I can't justify that to you."

"Well, I arrived there on time, you didn't need to fight him in the end."

"I didn't know where you were! By all societal standards I should have stepped in and put an end to the monster when he went into the stadium filled with innocent civilians to begin with!"

"But you sent me texts, you didn't need to-"

"You're not listening! People could have died if you'd gotten there late and I was ready to make that sacrifice right until the very end!" If the truth was bound to come out that night it might as well be the entirety of it. There was never denying of what she was, but that day it had played a big part on her actions, or rather, lack of them. "I'm a monster! A literal one! My instincts were to keep myself and Kaiyo alive, screwing over everyone else there! The only time I felt the need to do something at the end and-"

"And if I hadn't gotten there on time you would have stood up to the Seafreak and saved all those people. You just said it yourself, you felt the need to do something and you were about to do so."

"I'm… I'm not even sure myself of why I did that." Lola whispered out.

"Look, I know you. And I know that I married a woman that cares about others and who wouldn't be crying right now if she didn't care about humans that went beyond your family." He wouldn't have married her if he'd thought she was indifferent towards the lives of the general populace. It had been a question he'd asked himself when the topic of marriage first popped up in his brain, but, in the end, he'd chosen to go with his instinct and trust Lola. "Is it that impossible that you always care about other humans but didn't realize it? You cared about your dad, your co-workers, me and lately Genos. We're all humans. Like I said, I changed and so have you, maybe that's one of the things that are different. Could that be it?"

"I… I don't know."

"Well, I guess you're closer to figuring it out."

* * *

Two days later…

Life had settled back down after the eventful day that tested the strength of the family's bond and, even if some things couldn't go back to the way they were, second chance cards had been drawn. The slate hadn't been as wiped clean as much as it was mended but there was hope to learn from past mistakes and to accept what the future would likely be bringing their way.

It was nearing the end of the day, so no one really fancied doing anything that involved a lot, or any, movement. The apartment was relatively quiet, Lola and Saitama were reading, her an online article on her phone on house repairs after a monster attack (it always payed to be on top of the best methods) and him a manga about a boy with psychic powers, while Kaiyo found relaxation in watching reruns of an anime about a powerful slime.

A knock on the door followed by it opening prompted the family of three to shift their attention towards the cyborg that had just entered their apartment carrying a black box and a smile on his face.

"Hello, Saitama-sensei, Lola-san, Kayio-san. I'm proud to announce my recovery and improvement with the help of Dr. Kuseno's expertise." Genos announced proudly.

"Hey, look who it is!" Kaiyo was relieved to see the blond was back on his feet and, undoubtedly, ready for another round of hero business. "How does it feel to be back in one piece, toaster-man?"

"We're glad to see you're alright." Lola got up and walked around Genos, looking him up and down. Everything looked exactly the same, at least the parts she could see. It was impressive the speed at how the cyborg had recuperated, it looked like he hadn't even gone against the Deep Sea King in the first place!

Saitama, on the other hand, while glad to see his self-proclaimed disciple back in one piece, was intrigued by the box he'd brought inside. "What's that, Genos?"

"I'm feeling quite well, Kaiyo-san, and thank you, Lola-san. This is some correspondence we got from civilians delivered by a Hero Association drone, since the postman can't come here, Saitma-sensei."

Genos put down the box next to Saitama, sat down and opened the lid. There was an overflow of letters in multicolored envelopes inside, all with different sender names and handwriting, and most were addressed to Genos, but there were also a few in there with Saitama's name on them too.

"There are even some for me, score!" The bald man cheered and pumped his fists in the air.

Lola put her arms around her husband's shoulders from behind and nuzzled his neck. "Does this mean you're going to leave me for one of those stalker fans, now?"

"No way! Those people are creepy, always watching you go about your life… It gives me chills."

Kaiyo lightly elbowed Genos, who chocked on air and looked to the side with an unreadable expression. The cyborg hurried and picked up an envelope addressed to him, tearing it open and picked up the letter inside. That only made him choke even more.

"Ohhh, cute girly writing. Wait, you have a fan club people can join?!" The boy had looked over the blond's shoulder to read the letter and didn't find himself disappointed on what he'd found. "Who wants to bet more than half are crazy fangirls dying to date the Demon Cyborg? I'm open to bets, people!"

Saitama wasn't paying attention to what was going on Geno's side of the fan mail, opting to picke up the first letter he saw with his name on it and, carefully breaking the seal, he opened it up revealing the folded up letter inside. Slowly unfolding the piece of paper, he began reading the contents along with the woman leaning against him.

"What does it say?" Kaiyo went around the table to get a better field of vision and found out why Genos had reacted the way he did. "Oh…"

"Sensei, what does your say?" Genos looked over at the letter Saitama was holding, expecting it to have written something along the lines of a thank you note for having defeated the Deep Sea King. Instead, there were big angry red letters marring the paper. "Damn it… I'll find out who sent it!"

NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOU! YOU COWARD, CHEATING, FUCKING BALDY!

"This guy sure has some free time." Saitama commented nonchalantly and tossed the letter aside.

"Dad?" "Saitama?" "Sensei?"

"Look, there's another one." He picked up the second envelope and tore out one of its sides, fishing the letter out from within. "It's… Someone's thanking me."

'_To the hero Saitama, thank you!'_

"Must be someone you saved, sensei."

"I see. Any more left?"

"Just one more. It's from the Hero Association."

"The Association? Are they firing me? Well, whatever." Third time was the charm, for better or for worse. What he saw written inside was definitely for the better though. "It says I'm number 1 in C-Class. And they're calling me in because of it."

"I read that once you reach number one in a Hero Class you have the chance to move up to the next one." Geno's face brightened up at the thought of his sensei going up a Class. It may not have been a big promotion but it meant the people at the Hero Association hadn't decided to cut their losses short and toss out a supposed cheater.

Lola cheered, whooping in excitement, shifted to kneel in front of her husband and placed her hands on his shoulders. "What are you waiting for?! You need to go!"

"What? Now?"

"Dad, just go!" "You must go, sensei!" "Woo! My husband is a hero!"

* * *

**AN: If you've made it this far congratulations! This thing took the life out of me so, once again, don't expect a regular schedule, but I will do my best to be back soon!**


	13. Bad luck and aliens

**I'm back! And it****'****s only been one month so I consider that a win! The next chapter should be ready soon-ish... I hope.**

* * *

"Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist!"

The movements performed by the martial arts master flowed smoothly through the air, looking almost effortless in their display.

Even at an old age, Bang was a master of his craft. The years he'd spent developing and honing his fighting style had left him with permanent reminders in the form of scars that had taken a permanent place all over his body, but he'd never regretted having taken the harshest path in life as it allowed him to find pride in what he'd accomplished and in teaching his art to others who sought him out.

At first glance there didn't seem to be much to the fighting style but, to the trained eye, there was concealed strength hiding just behind the fluidness of the movements, a force to be reckoned with if its wielder dared to be provoked by an enemy.

"Well, it goes something like this." Bang dropped his stance and returned to his normal slightly hunched-over one, hands clasped behind his back along with relaxed smile. He turned to the family of three plus their live-in extra sitting on the wooden floor to gauge at their reactions to his demonstration of the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist.

Lola clapped enthusiastically while offering a beaming smile. "Amazing! I bet in your younger days you drove the ladies wild with those moves."

The older man smiled with embarrassment and raised a hand to scratch at his head. "I'm afraid I was too busy developing the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist while learning with my older brother Bomb to really notice that. But thank you for the compliment." He then looked at the two heroes next to the woman, hoping that he'd aroused their curiosity with his demonstration. "Do you want to try? You two look like enthusiastic learners. I bet you'll get the hang of it in no time."

"…This is the cool thing you wanted to show us? A sales pitch?" Saitama questioned with a deadpan look. The bald was thoroughly disappointed on his invitation to visit once again the S-Class hero's dojo. He'd been hoping for some more high-quality meat… or at least some other type of food. "I'll pass. You do it Genos."

"No, I will pass too." The cyborg declined almost immediately. "What is seek is not the art of self-defense, but absolute destructive power."

"You punks! You dare mock our fighting style?!" The martial arts student blew up, having taken great offense over the two heroes declining to learn from his sensei, and began readying put into practice what he'd learned in the dojo. "I, Charanko, the top disciple, challenge you-!"

Kaiyo didn't let him finish his tirade, having gotten behind the young adult and tripped him while pulling up his left arm, causing the wild-haired student to faceplant rather painfully into the ground while in a wristlock. It was a move he'd used many times in the playground and, as a consequence, gotten in trouble for the large majority of those times if a teacher spotted him. It honestly wasn't his fault if some idiot bully felt the need to try and take him on… mostly.

"It hurts! I give up! I give up!"

The eleven-year-old let out a snort, followed by a laugh. "Woo, I beat the top disciple of Silver Fang's dojo!" He then paused, evaluating his words and looked down at the disciple. How exactly had he been able to take down the guy so easily with a move learned from a movie? And without using his monster-given strength? "Wait, how are you this crappy at martial arts?"

"Just let me go already!" Charanko complained, biting down on his lip at having been humiliated with such ease by someone so much younger than him. And in front of Bang just to make things even worse for his rapidly bruising ego!

"Only if you say the magic word."

Lola facepalmed and groaned, shaking her head at the scene. "Kaiyo, listen to the kid and let him go." She didn't want to even think about the trouble her son could cause if he ever got the idea to join a dojo. Especially Silver Fang's dojo.

"Fine..."

The orange-haired loudmouth picked himself off the ground while shooting a loathing stare at Kaiyo. "I'm not a kid, lady, I'm twenty." He complained while adjusting his white gi.

Charanko had joined Bang's dojo in his pursuit of popularity and dreams of saving pretty women but ended up lowest in rank, at white-belt, and tasked with cleaning the floors while fearing every one of his peers. Every day those goals he'd set his eyes on only seemed to get further and further away from his grasp. Every opponent he'd encountered so far was always leagues away from him when it came to strength but having been taken down by a literal child and saved by their mother's warning really was the cherry on top of the metaphorical cake of shame he'd never asked for.

"Really?" The white-haired woman tilted her head in confusion before putting on an apologetic look with a sheepish smile. "My bad, then, I thought you were sixteen…"

Genos got up and took a good look at Charanko, detecting no more than average readings from him, something the cyborg found rather odd. For someone who claimed to be the best in a dojo taught in by such a powerful S-Class hero there wasn't much to show in terms of skill or power. Even his sensei's wife and son ranked above him when examined and both had not shown proof of any sort of formal training in any fighting art.

The blond then turned to the elder martial arts master in confusion. "Is he really your best?" He asked.

Bang looked to the side and cleared his throat, pausing for a couple of seconds before answering. "Yes…"

"I find it rather odd. I'd heard your dojo was full of skilled fighters."

"Well, one of my disciples went wild. He beat my most skilled students so badly they're all out of commission. The rest got scared and quit."

It had been such a sad moment for the old master to have returned and find all of his students either battered and bleeding or too scared to even move under _that_ terrifying stare. What had started as a child's dream to become strong for himself had slowly turned over the apprenticeship years into pure selfish desire for power… And Bang had been so taken with how his pupil had devoted himself to his training that he hadn't even taken notice of the change. Even at the present moment he regretted his choice in the end, wondering even if it had been the right one.

"Now that explains why this, erm… young man, is your best." Lola gestured towards the only remaining student before realizing she might have bruised his ego some more. "No offense."

"Some taken." He replied with a deadpan expression.

"The guy is that strong? What's his name?" Saitama asked the elder S-Class hero, his curiosity finally having been roused upon hearing about the rogue disciple. He was never one to pass up the opportunity to learn about possible strong opponents.

"… Garou." Bang finally said after a few seconds of mulling over what had happened the day he'd finally had to kick out his most promising student. "He was my top disciple at the time, but I gave him a good beating and expelled him."

The bald man got up in his excitement, wondering if martial arts weren't so boring after all. "You must pack a punch, old man!" He exclaimed.

"Hey! This is the famed hero, Silver Fang!" The young man came into defense of his sensei, getting up in Saitama's face with a glare. "S-Class, rank 3! He flows like water, toying with his opponents, before delivering a blow like a raging river smashing huge rocks! A master of martial arts! You only became a hero recently, right? You'll regret talking to sensei Bang lightly!"

"Enough, Charanko." Bang put a hand in his disciple's shoulder and shook his head. Truly, hotheadedness was the downfall of his remaining student. "Do not disgrace us. Saitama is many times stronger than me."

"Sensei, you can't be serious…"

Kaiyo made a whipping noise only to receive a glare from his mother.

"Mr. Silver Fang!" The door was suddenly opened to reveal a ragged, panting man in a rumpled business suit with his tie askew. He collapsed onto his knees, relieved he'd at last managed to climb up the hundreds of stairs up to the famed hero's dojo, and took in a few deep breaths to regain some of his composure. "The Hero Association sent me. An emergency summon has been issued to all S-Class heroes! Please come to the Association Headquarters. Oh! Is that you, Mr. Genos? Since all S-Class Heroes have been summoned please come too!"

"Is it a Dragon-level threat?" The blond cyborg wondered out loud. There were very few reasons to gather all the S-Class in such short notice and none of them was good to begin with. At the best of chances, the threat level could be Dragon and from there on out the scenarios became worse and worse, ending with a God level threat that posed a danger to the whole planet.

"Here we go…" Shaking his head and letting out a breath, Bang began walking toward the entrance before pausing and turning to his student. "Charanko, look after the dojo."

"If the S-Class is all being summoned you should come too, sensei." Genos asked Saitama. "They may need your help."

"I will go! Because I have nothing else to do." The bald hero declared with a straight posture and a smirk.

Kaiyo ran over to his father, barely able to contain his excitement. "Can I go too?" Giving his best attempt at a puppy-dog look he latched onto the outfit's white cloak. "Please? Pretty please?"

"Sure. Lola, you coming too?"

"Why not?" The woman got up and walked over to her husband before lacing up her elbow with his. "Let's go!"

Bang eyed the family before clearing his throat. "Saitama, are you sure you family should come?" If they would be dealing with a possible threat there could be a chance the woman and child could be caught in the crossfire. For all he knew Elder Centipede could have come back, at the worst of chances!

"It's just a meeting, old man, what could be the harm?"

* * *

It didn't take long for them to reach A-City, maybe having beaten some form of speed record in the process and most definitely having spooked a lot of the wildlife through the improvised path they'd taken.

Locating the Hero Association HQ hadn't been a problem, mainly because it took the form of the highest building located right in the middle of it. The skyscraper was notorious for having been built by Metal Knight in record time, its dark and windowless appearance contrasting more than obviously with the normalcy of the main city and with twice of both the size and the area there was no denying it imposed a certain degree of respect. The Association's founder, Agoni, certainly hadn't cut corners when it came to demonstrating the power of his vision.

Lola and Kaiyo agreed to remain in the entrance hall, mainly because civilians would likely not be welcomed at an S-Class meeting, especially not one called with such emergency, while the three heroes took the elevator to one of the top floors.

"Oh ho, Silver Fang!" A man wearing a traditional swordsman outfit under a red cloak greeted as soon as the elevator's door opened.

"It's been a while, Atomic Samurai." Bang smiled at his friend. "I see you also came as fast as possible."

"I knew you'd come." He nodded while chewing on a blade of grass and stroking his small goatee. "You must be the cyborg Genos and… Who's this?"

"This is the B-Class hero Saitama. His exceptional talent will one day put him at the top of S-Class, I'm sure, so we asked him to come."

"Yo, middle-aged hero dude." The bald man acknowledged the hero in regular fashion and extended his red-gloved hand. "Put 'em here."

Kamikaze wasted no time in casually slapping away the hand. The youngsters those days seemed to be getting more and more careless in their manners… but he'd never seen one go bald so soon, much to his curiosity. Even more intriguing was Silver Fang's introduction. The elder's claim that unassuming man's power could put him on top of the ranks, while brief, was rather surprising, especially when it came from a master with a lifetime of experience and training.

"No handshakes. I acknowledge only the strong. Once you've climbed up to S-Class I'll greet you properly. Besides, I'm not middle-aged yet, I'm only thirty-seven."

"Really?" A child's voice came from behind the newly-arrived trio. Kaiyo popped his head from behind his father's cloak with a smirk before fully coming out from his hiding spot. "You look more like fifty."

"Eh? Who's the kid? Another Child Emperor?" Atomic Samurai bent down to take a good look at the child.

"Kaiyo, I thought you stayed behind with your mom." Saitama admonished, but, looking back, he really should have seen it coming. Kaiyo, like other kids, had a tendency to let his curiosity lead him around.

"So did she."

"He's your kid? The Association HQ is no place for little kids trying to play hero." The young one must have taken after his mother when it came to his looks, because he looked nothing like the bald hero. But in manners there was definitely a connection. "Come to think of it, you're the one that looks middle-aged, with that bad thing you've got going on."

Genos quickly came to the defense of his sensei. "Saitama-sensei is only twenty-five, as a matter of fact. His badness is merely a side-effect of the training he underwent in order to become stronger."

"Oh my, I also thought you were older than that, Saitama. That baldness really does age you quite a bit." Bang commented.

"Could everyone stop talking about me being bald…?"

"You two brought a B-Class nobody alongside with his spawn?" Another rather childish voice, this one female, spoke out. "And even if the bald one was invited; a polite person would decline. The nerve! I bet you're only here for some creepy reason, like kissing up to us S-Class heroes! You disgust me! Get lost already and take the runt along with you!"

The Tornado of Terror was not having a good day.

First she'd woken up on the wrong side of the bed and put on her slippers on the wrong feet with some of her characteristic curls looking horribly deformed, her toothpaste exploded when she squeezed too hard, her toast landed jam-side on the floor and there were no paper towels left and, when she stepped outside, a trio of black cats were outside her door. Out of the blue she got a call to go and solve the problem of some weirdo giant ancient lizard waking up, which was right between some mountains in the middle of nowhere, and the airplane ride gave her a headache that was worsened by another call that told her to come back and attend an emergency meeting.

Sitch had some nerve! Ordering the great Tatsumaki around like a personal servant! She was rank 2 in the S-Class for a reason and it wasn't to go around like she was playing fetch!

"Who's this… sassy lost child?" Saitama pointed with a deadpan expression at the green-haired petite woman.

"Say that again to my face!" Kaiyo exploded. "You can insult my bald dad all you want but do not call me a runt!"

"CAN'T PEOPLE STOP FOCUSING ON MY BALDNESS?!"

"That, sensei, is Tatsumaki, S-Class rank 2." Said Genos. "She defeats monster with her psychic powers. She's an ESPer."

"'That'? I am not an object!" Tatsumaki shouted while resisting the urge to use her powers to crush the cyborg like a tin can. She was the second best of the Hero Association and yet those two had the nerve to disrespect her!

"Really? She really does look like a kid, though."

"I am not a kid, I'm twenty-eight!"

"It appears everyone is here. We should join them."

The two heroes ran ahead, followed by Kaiyo, leaving the ESPer stunned at their treatment of her.

"Hey! Don't ignore me! Baldy! Tin Can!"

* * *

Lola looked around the entrance hall of the Hero Association's HQ, taking in the rather conventional reception area. Even if it was built in the futuristic and sleek style as the rest of the building the (mandatorily incomprehensible) sculpture by the desk and the paintings on the walls (that looked like either a psychedelic dream with the colors muted or splatter of paint thrown at random) were there, likely to give a sense of normalcy to the people who had to live with the surroundings often.

The monster-woman thought back to when her parents were still alive. They had raised her to be mostly indifferent towards heroes, advising her to assess each one individually based on their actions rather than to lump them all into a single category, especially since Nephila had done some morally dubious and outright evil in her past.

If there had been a confession of all those deeds it was gone from Lola's memory, along with many others that pertained to the monster-parent's personality, tastes, habits and so on… even her father's face was gone. She knew her childhood had been a happy one, even when drawing a blank on most of it. All that remained were some life lessons, meals the family had taken together, a couple of vacations to remote beaches or camping sites and, the one that always made her so sad, the last time they all saw each other.

"_Don't worry about us, you'll be safe and that's all that matters."_

"_But I don't want you to leave! I don't want to be alone!"_

"_We're doing this so you can live a happy life, safe from what happened in the past."_

"_I don't want a happy life if I have to be alone! You can't go!"_

"… _One day you'll understand. __I'm sorry."_

_I'm sorry._

**_I'm sorry._**

Lola hadn't understood what those words truly meant until she'd woken up in a bed she did not recognize, in a house that she'd never seen, in what she later learned was Z-City, with huge gaps in most of her memories. There were some papers on her bedside, including an ID card with a surname she couldn't tell it was hers, a bank card and the deed to the house.

But her parents weren't there.

They had left her all alone.

"Excuse me, are you lost?"

"Huh?" Jolted from her memories, the woman tore her gaze away from the grey splatter painting and turned to see a blond man in what looked like a modified knight's armor behind her. Gathering her thoughts (and making sure she wasn't inadvertently teary-eyed), she put on an inviting smile and willed her heart to calm down. "Oh, don't worry, I'm just waiting on my husband. He's at a hero meeting."

The man noticed the woman's quick change in posture, including the smile that would have fooled most people, but opted to not mention it. "Is it by any chance the S-class hero meeting that was called at the last minute?"

"Yeah. Are you here for it too?"

"No, I'm unfortunately only A-Class and I doubt I can rank up any time soon." Remembering why he and his fellow disciples had their way blocked made his blood boil. "Damn that Idiot Mask." He whispered.

He, Okamaitachi and Bushidrill were, respectively, ranks 2, 3 and 4, but no matter how much they were worthy to move on to S-Class as long as the number one spot was occupied by a certain idol there was no chance for them to progress forward. All three of them were disciples of Kamikaze, more known as Atomic Samurai, and trained in the art of swordsmanship after passing the apple-cutting test set by him in order to find the one who were cut to train as a swordsman. They had proved themselves time and time again against monsters, opponents and each other, but… somehow that pretty bastard was always ahead of them in fighting skills and popularity.

"Idiot Mask? Are you talking about Amai Mask?" Lola chuckled, thinking about using that name swap if she ever had to direct a word towards the blue-haired man. It would certainly be entertaining to see what kind of face he would make, even if it was just an eye twitch.

"Ah, yeah… Never mind that."

"Don't worry, I also think he's an idiot, not to say any other stronger words. I'm Lola, nice to mee you. And this… is…" Looking around for a sign of Kaiyo and coming up with none, she let out a sigh. "My son was supposed to be around here but I might have a clue that he's snuck into the meeting."

"Iaian, A-Class rank 2. I came to accompany my sensei, Atomic Samurai. You said you were married to someone attending the meeting? I didn't know any of the S-Class heroes were married."

"Actually, my husband isn't S-Class, but he was invited by Genos and Bang to sit in at the meeting."

"Your husband was invited by two S-Class heroes? He must be really strong."

Thinking back to the three years her husband spent training non-stop and the amount of effort he put into becoming a hero, Lola couldn't help but to give a real smile. He'd worked so hard and it had more than paid off. "The strongest, that I can bet you on."

"Might I have heard of him?"

"Maybe. His name's Saitama."

"Saitama…" When had he heard that name before? There had been something recently to do with it but Iaian couldn't pinpoint exactly what it had been. "The name does ring a bell but I have no idea where I might have heard it."

Suddenly a handful of explosions rocked the building, causing some furniture to shift around and a couple of paintings to fall off the walls. The alarms went off instantly, a robotic voice instructing people to take cover in the lower levels and allow heroes and other specialized personnel to deal with the situation.

"What the hell?!"

"We're under attack!" Iaian placed a hand on his sword and looked around. The explosions had come from the outside but there was a chance somehow the attackers could have someone on the inside already. "Please, stay put while I-" There wasn't a chance for him to finish his sentence.

It was almost as if a gigantic bomb had gone off at close range. The building shook more violently, power cutting off, leaving only emergency light on, as the rest of the paintings jumped off the walls, statues and plants knocked over and furniture cracked all over the place from the vibrations. The monster-woman steadied herself against the wall while the swordsman lost his balance and knelt down until the shaking of the tower stopped and everything stilled, both knocked out of breath by the impact.

"Emergency power activated." The lights came back at the signal of the robotic voice, leaving the two to stare at each other over what had just transpired.

"That definitely was not an earthquake."

"No. That was a large-scale attack and my bet is that the city didn't fare well against it." What Lola didn't mention were some rather noticeable living energy sources had appeared alongside the larger explosion. One, in particular, rather restrained but pulsating with power.

"I'm going to look for survivors!"

"But-!" The swordsman darted to the building entrance and disappeared into the outside, leaving the woman to stare at where he'd just been moments prior. "There are some powerful beings outside and I don't think you'll be able to handle them."

Why was it that lately wherever she went something bad happened?! First the meteor had destroyed her workplace, then the dreaded work session for that damned hero, the attack by the Seafolk in J-City and now the Hero Association HQ was under attack! Admittedly the second scenario had been somewhat her fault but the other ones?! Did she have some sort of evil eye cast upon her?!

"Mom!" A familiar voice shouted.

The elevator doors opened to reveal a worried monster-boy, who darted towards his mother and closed his arms around her waist with a strong grip. Thank everything that the building had withstood the attack and didn't collapse along with the rest of A-City! At least the bad luck hadn't taken its toll on the rest of family.

"Kaiyo!" Lola hugged a son back, an invisible weight lifting off her shoulders. "Where is everyone else?"

"They went up to the roof to fight the aliens!"

"Aliens?"

"Yeah! A huge spaceship turned up outside and destroyed all of A-City and knocked out all communications and the guy who called this meeting was telling us how an old woman predicted that the Earth would be in danger right before she died and how all of her predictions came true and this thing happening now could have something to do with it!" By the end of the sentence the boy was out of breath and had to deeply inhale a few times.

"So… aliens are outside to destroy the Earth?"

"…Yes, pretty much."

"Ok." Lola nodded and paused for a few seconds. "I have no idea what to do."

"Kick alien ass?"

"Maybe. Now let's go."

* * *

**Remember to R&R, it makes me find motivation faster to finish new chapters :D**

**Also, kudos to anyone can tell where I got the inspiration for Tatsumaki****'****s bad day!**


	14. Life and Death

**AN: This chapter put up a fight like hell. I lost the will to write it three times and forced myself to go back to it every time because I didn't want to leave my readers hanging for a conclusion to the alien invasion. I am aware some parts may be rushed and even convoluted but in all honesty this is the best I can do without wanting to delete everything.**

**Also, I still get comments about Lola kissing Amai Mask and how people didn't like it but... I kinda grew to like how I wrote it. I still give reason to those who don****'****t like it and who said how they felt****, I can perfectly see why it****'****s my most criticized chapter but, at this point in time, I don****'t feel the need to change it.**

* * *

When Lola and Kaiyo passed through the Association's doors it was as if they'd entered a completely new reality.

The scenario was worse than anyone could have pictured it. Not one building remained untouched or even a semblance of recognizable, everything had been torn down upon the impact of the alien artillery and even charred with the intense heat that was generated. Roads once bustling with movement were no longer there, buried beneath all the wreckage, all the noise and action having ceased in a single swoop.

"I can't believe it, they really tore up the whole city." Lola whispered; her eyes wide in disbelief. She knew certain monsters could bring swift destruction in their wake with ease but not in the scale of an entire city within mere seconds.

Kaiyo brushed his eyes across the horizon line and the landscape was a warzone as far as he could see. The man presiding the meeting had said it was a 99.98% destruction rate but the number didn't have as much impact as looking at the scenario itself. When looking to the right he caught sight of a large monster with multiple heads facing down what looked like a knight and a man running from that direction with a child in his arms.

"Mom, look over there!" He pointed.

"We need help!" The man shouted as he arrived at the only remaining building in A-City, before kneeling down in exhaustion at Lola and Kaiyo's feet.

The monster-woman knelt down and put her hand on the man's shoulder. "Don't worry, you're safe now."

"You two, take the kids inside and ask for help from the staff while we go and take care of that thing." Atomic Samurai stated as he walked past them, a hand clutching the hilt of his katana, and took off in a sprint towards his disciple.

Metal Bat and Puri Puri Prisoner came out of the building and followed after him, taking no time to even acknowledge the civilians, leaving behind a certain martial arts master.

Bang paused and bent down to look Lola in the eyes. "Do as he say and let us take care of this. Saitama is very likely already on the alien ship as we speak, so there is no need to worry as much." And, with that, he was off to help out his comrades against the monster that had descended from the ship.

Tearing her eyes from the departing hero, Lola looked back at the man who was still panting as if he'd just run a marathon. It was obvious he was very much in shock over the destruction of the city and, worse than that, over the people he'd likely lost in the alien attack. The child he was carrying didn't attempt to form a single word, his sobs blocking out any coherent speech as he desperately clung to his father's shirt in search of comfort.

"Can you stand?" She asked.

"I… I think so."

Putting her hands on the man's waist, she helped him up and steady on his feet. "Go inside and ask for help from the Hero Association. Can you do that?"

A breath in and another out. Repeat. And repeat. A pause. "…Yes."

Lola slowly let the man go and watched him go past the doors. The two would be safe enough inside but there could be more out there. The mere thought of what could have happened if her son had been caught in the bombardment gripped her heart like a vice, feeling as if the organ was twice as heavy in her chest. And what if she'd chosen to wait outside and had to face the explosion? In either scenario would have caused so much pain to the family. It would have been a nightmare.

There could be people out there facing their version of that nightmare.

"I'm going to look for survivors. I might be able to feel if someone's stuck under all this rubble."

"Wait! I thought you said you weren't as powerful as grandma to sense a regular person's energy." Kaiyo remembered he'd asked once if his mother was as powerful as his grandmother. The answer had been a no, mainly because Nephila had many years of indiscriminate use and experience to back her up while har daughter was discouraged from using her abilities on other people while growing up.

"If I concentrate hard enough I'm able to pinpoint someone's location." And with all the powerful people in the vicinity it would be harder, but she Lola chose not to mention that.

"I'll go too!" His response was immediate before he switched to a pleading tone. "Please."

"…Alright. But you're not getting out of my sight."

"And dad?"

"Bang said he was heading to the ship. No doubt he's already causing some damage while looking for the alien boss." She looked up briefly. "There's definitely some powerful aliens up there. Oh, one just disappeared." Saitama was definitely inside the alien vessel. "Let's go, I can definitely sense that thing over there is able to split up into multiple bodies and I don't want to find out what is like to fight one."

The two then set off to try and find some civilians in need of help.

Someone was bound to have been lucky enough to have survived… Right?

* * *

"Can you feel anything?"

"… Not yet."

"How can we not have found any survivors yet?!" Kaiyo exploded. "Out of everyone who lived here some must have made it out alive!"

The pair had walked a considerable distance from their starting point, both keeping their senses keen to anything that might indicate someone was still alive out there, but so far had come up empty-handed.

"Humans aren't as durable as monsters, especially civilians." Or maybe she'd just sat on her skills long enough for them to lose their edge… She had to focus… Give it all she had… Yes! There! "Wait! It's faint but I can feel something!" Latching onto that little light in her mind's eye, Lola's feet moved on their own until they stopped in front of half of a broken sign for a convenience store. "Here! Help me dig through the rubble but be careful!"

In an instant several of the monster-boy's dreads came to life, morphing into long stands of kelp. They were his best strength, tentacles that were stronger than steel and but weighted as much as hydrated kelp, powerful enough to defeat some A-Class heroes but also able to perform more delicate movements. Carefully, they began picking up chunks of the rubble that sat on top of some poor soul that had gotten caught up in the alien assault, tossing them away almost as if they were weightless.

It was a slow process filled with anxiety. Whatever pocket of air the debris sat over could collapse at any given time, not to mention the danger of encountering electric lines or gas leaks. Not to mention that neither of the two were doctors, ambulance workers, firefighters or had any knowledge of engineering, which put whoever was trapped in more danger, but the threat of further attacks was too great to leave the person to their luck.

Finally, a voice was heard, signaling for the kelp tentacles to retreat and Lola to take over the remaining digging by hand. Then, there was a tiny hand grabbing hers.

"Hey there." The woman whispered as she hoisted up from the hole a little girl that was no older than a toddler. "You're safe now, don't worry."

"Mama! Papa!" Those were the first words heard by her rescuers, shouted out into the skies in a desperate cry for her loved ones. "I want my mama and papa!"

It was a state no child ever should be in. The girl was all scraped and bruised, one of her pigtails undone and the other barely held up by a butterfly rubber band. Her once navy-blue dress was beyond repair, covered in dirt, gashes and even some blood, and her socks peeking from under a pair of cute brown shoes no longer sported a pristine white color, but a dull grey with frayed spots.

"Do you…?" Kaiyo didn't have to finish those words for his mother to understand them.

Lola was sure she already knew the answer, but she took a deep breath and concentrated has hard as she could past the cries of the child held against her chest.

A few seconds went by.

Then some more.

A full minute ticked by.

…Nothing.

It was as she'd thought. She let her head hand and shook it, but still got up and motioned for her son to follow along the second after. Beyond the superficial wounds it looked like there weren't any broken bones or any other serious injuries, but it would be best for the little girl to be taken to get professional medical help as fast as possible. There was no need for two lives lost to become three.

"No! I want my mama and papa!"

"Calm down." Lola placed her hand on the girl's cheek and, almost immediately, the toddler began settling down. "Shhh, that's it. Deep breath in and out. I bet you're very tired. You should go to **sleep** for bit. You **are** very tired and really **want** to sleep. Don't you?"

"I… I…" Her eyes began feeling heavier and heavier until she couldn't keep them open anymore and, in seconds, she was pulled into a dreamless sleep.

"Alright, Kaiyo, let's keep going."

The mother and son began walking back to the Hero Association HQ, a heavy silence reigning among them, neither attempting to look at each other.

It wasn't just about the display of Lola's abilities as a monster, but more concerning that someone so young lost two important people to them and how it would be attributed to a large-scale monster attack.

There were many types of monsters out in the world, mysterious beings as some scientists called them, and the majority weren't exactly nice. Heck, they caused so much trouble that certain people dedicated their careers to trying and stop them from harming humans. What was there to stop heroes if someone ever found out two monsters disguised themselves as something they were not and blended into society? It wouldn't matter if they'd done good if all fingers pointed accusatorily at them. And Saitama couldn't always be at his son or wife's side, what would happen if something went wrong?

"That, erm… That was the first time I saw you do that." The monster-boy whispered in an attempt to try and soften the mood. He was still thinking about how easily his mother was able to calm down the human girl. "Will she remember anything?"

"Unfortunately, she will still remember what happened today, removing or altering memories is a delicate procedure with several ramifications and side-effects to it, but on why she went to sleep all that will remain is her feeling very tired." As far as she recalled children's brains were easier to meddle with but, so far, all her "subjects" had been fully grown and never had their memories tampered with, putting her knowledge in only the theoretical field. "Also, since I used skin-to-skin contact it didn't have the same mental impact as just using my words. Not to mention it's easier to get control of the person this way."

"Well, that's- Oh shit!"

"What?"

"Look up!"

The alien ship's underside was being covered in violet lights, casting a strong, almost blinding glow over the entire city. Soon after, several artillery shells were deployed, likely a follow-up to the initial attack to try and eliminate the heroes fighting against the invaders and whoever else had managed to survive the destruction of A-City.

"Crap! We're going get blown up!" Lola was lost on what to do as taking cover wasn't a viable option, until the shells stopped mid-air enveloped by a green glow. "What… What happened? Why did they stop mid-air?"

"Tatsumaki! The Tornado of Terror!" Kaiyo remembered the green-haired child-like woman had been present for the meeting. For someone so unassuming to carry so much power… She was rank 2 for a reason but... Wow! "She's a really powerful ESPer that was at the hero meeting, it's got to be her doing this."

The projectiles began moving, but not in their original direction. They changed directions and were sent up back to where they'd came from, striking the ship, causing multiple explosions and, very likely, some heavy damage to the vessel.

"Kudos to her but we better hurry back to the Hero Association HQ in case that thing starts coming down on our heads."

"Hey, what's that?" Kaiyo pointed a what looked like a military vehicle parked in the middle of the destruction with a couple of people near it. "Hey! Over here!" He shouted.

* * *

Satoru, more known as Mumen Rider, had arrived to what remained of A-City as soon as he'd heard the reports of untold damage and destruction through the television after the hero communication network went down. There hadn't been any hesitation on his part to participate in the rescue operation, even if he was fearful of what kind of monsters he could encounter while saving the civilians that had managed to survive the attack.

"_No one expects much…" Everything hurt, all of his nerves were on fire, his body begging to shut down, but Mumen Rider still found the energy to slowly get back up. "…from me." He was on his knees now. It was more than certain he wouldn't make it out alive, nevertheless he wouldn't give up. Not while people were still in danger. "They think a C-Class Hero won't be much help. I know that better than anyone!" It hurt to breathe, to speak, or to do anything else. "I'm not good enough for B-class. I'm weak, I know that much! No one has to tell me I have no chances of defeating you. I already know that!" Finally, he was standing back up in front of the beast. He was a hero, and heroes protected everyone regardless of the consequences!_

After what had happened of the Dee Sea King some had expected him to quit and leave his hearo duties behind, but all that had happened was a reinvigorated sense of doing better to overcome whatever opponents he may encounter in the future. Mumen Rider had meant what he'd said to the hulk of a beast and, if anything, his sense of selflessness towards the community had only grown more reinvigorated and pushing him to doing better for others who depended on him.

The Hero Association, upon earning of his arrival, partnered him up with Stinger and Lighting Max and sent the three out into the ruins to rescue anyone who'd escaped with their lives. So far there were a handful of people already inside the armored truck provided, and a couple more already with medical task forces back at the HQ, and they were rescuing their last victim before returning.

"Alright, this is the last of the reported survivors." Stinger helped the injured woman stand up and slowly made their way towards the vehicle.

"Hey! Over here!" Two people were running towards the heroes. It was a boy and a woman.

"More survivors?" Lighting Max wondered.

When the two arrived the heroes were able to see that the woman was also carrying a small bruised child in her arms, but herself and the boy were looking like they didn't have a scratch on them.

"Could you give us a lift?" Kaiyo asked.

"Of course! Let's get you three out of here."

Mumen Rider approached the woman, his eyes wide behind his goggles. "You are…"

"Hello again." Lola gave a tired smile.

"Mumen! Don't just stand there and help out!" Lightning Max shouted.

"Oh, sure! Here, give me the child. Is she hurt?"

The white-haired woman passed the sleeping toddler into the arms of the cyclist hero, making sure to jostle her as little as possible. "Not that I could see, but I'm afraid her parents didn't make it."

Everyone made it back inside the truck and sat down on the floor, glad that they could finally get to safety. Inside a few onlookers glanced at the newly-arrived passengers but didn't stare for too long, opting to lower their heads back down and focus on anything but the disaster that surrounded them.

Lola chose to sit in an isolated corner, letting out a long sigh of relief, and Mumen Rider sat down right next to her, the little sleeping girl still cradled in his lap.

"How did you two get away from that explosion? There isn't even a scratch that I can see." He asked.

"The Hero Association HQ. My son and I were inside when the aliens blew up A-City." She answered, choosing not to hide the fact.

"And you tow didn't think to remain inside?! You could have encountered dangerous creatures out here!"

"Did you?"

"That's not the point! You should have remained safe while letting the heroes handle this. It's our job to take those risks." Satoru couldn't decide if the woman was brave for venturing out to rescue people or insane for putting her son and herself in danger. Maybe she was both. "You shouldn't have needed put your life on the line, not now and not when the Sea King attacked."

The mention of the monster attack in J-City made Lola pause. It had almost slipped her mind what she'd come close to doing that day. "I didn't think you'd remember that."

"I actually met you husband after I was let out of the hospital. Bought him some dinner to thank him."

"He'd told me a guy bought him dinner when he was coming back from his promotion meeting but didn't say who exactly."

"When I asked Saitama if he knew why you'd put yourself between me and that monster he just assured me you were able to take care of yourself. Are you… like him?"

"What do you mean?"

"Strong." He'd realized from the start it had been only because of Saitama that the Deep Sea King was defeated and yet the man had let everyone else believe the opposite. All to maintain the people's belief in heroes. "There's no registered heroes with your description. I checked."

Her? A hero? It actually made her want to chuckle. "I can handle myself but I could never become a hero."

"We're here." The driver announced as the vehicle came to a full stop.

Medical teams approached to assist the injured survivors as they climbed out of the truck assisted by Lighting Max and Stinger, while one doctor came to pick up the little girl from Mumen Rider's arms and took her away to have her injuries examined.

Looking around the makeshift medical bay one could see just how little people had survived the alien invasion. Most were in stretchers and hooked up to machines in the far corners while medical personnel rushed between them to continuously monitor their vitals and administer care.

Out of the blue Lola felt the biggest of the foreign life energies die down before disappearing. Her husband's handiwork, most definitely. "We're not under the alien ship, are we?" She asked the Mumen Rider.

"Huh? No, why?"

"Just checking."

The ground began to shake violently, with almost as much intensity as when the first attack hit, generating chaos among the rescued populace and the medical staff looking after them. The building still showed no signs of collapsing but that fact didn't do much to reassure the people relying on it for shelter.

"What was that?!" "Another attack?!" "What's going on?" "I don't want to die!"

"Do not panic! The alien ship's crashing down! The S-Class have likely defeated whoever was controlling it." A Hero Association worker announced through the intercom system in an attempt to reassure everyone. "I repeat, do not panic! The alien ship has gone down."

"They did it!" "Yes!" "We're saved!" "I'm so glad!" "I knew the heroes would save us!" The shouts reverted from terrified to ecstatic, effectively providing a calming effect to spread through the makeshift medical bay.

Mumen Rider turned to Lola, his expression one of surprise. "How did you…?" How had she known the ship would be coming down? Did she have some sort of power that wasn't related to physical prowess?

"What? It was just a question." The monster-woman shrugged off the hero's implication. It wasn't like he could accuse her of anything without proof. "Anyway, we survived an alien invasion. Now there's a sentence I never thought I'd be saying. Can you believe it Ka-…" She looked around and noticed a certain someone wasn't to be seen anywhere nearby. "Kaiyo?"

How had she lost her son again?!

* * *

Kaiyo ran as fast as he could towards the crashed alien ship. He darted in-between the piles of rubble while employing his monster speed and endurance which, while rather limited due to his strength residing mainly in his kelp tentacles and not on his main body, gave him an edge superior to if he'd only been a regular human child.

At a certain point he was able to pinpoint a group of some S-Class heroes, so he slowed down and opted to shift to a stealthier approach, eventually stopping near enough so he could hear their conversation. As far as he could see the ones present were Child Emperor, Puri Puri Prisoner (who was naked for some reason), Genos, Bang, Atomic Samurai, Metal Bat and a blond man missing an arm, Iaian his mother had called him.

"Care to explain, Metal Bat?" A soft-spoken man's voice made itself known with an edge of poison to it.

Who did that voice belong to? Kaiyo was sure he'd heard it somewhere, but it hadn't been at the previously interrupted meeting. Peering from behind his hiding spot he saw a classically handsome blue-haired man standing in front of Metal Bat with an accusatory glare. Amai Mask! What was the A-Class hero doing with the S-Class ones?

"Huh?" Was the not-so-articulated response given by the young S-Class hero.

"Explain so I can understand."

"Handsomely Masked Amai Mask… Where the hell did you pop up from?"

"I was filming a TV Drama in the next town. There was a roar and tremors, so I came and found A-City wiped out."

"Monsters with a huge-ass ship and attacked us. They fired artillery and caused all of the destruction. But we took care of it."

"'Took care of it', you say?" Amai Mask's voice dropped an octave, ringing with a dangerous tone, before going back to normal. "You call this victory?! Such incompetence! I'm completely appalled at all of you!"

"Hey! You didn't even get here in time, so quit actin' all big." Metal Bat pointed his weapon at the pop-idol/hero, a promised threat in his actions.

"it's true I didn't make it in time, but all of you were right here. You didn't save a single brick!"

"We were having a meeting inside the HQ building." Atomic Samurai stepped forward to explain before the teen could make the situation worse. "We went outside as soon as the enemy attacked, but the city was already in ruins."

"So what? You think if you tell them that, all of the media will let this show of incompetence go?"

"You… Whose side are you on?" Puri Puri Prisoner accused the A-Class hero with a low tone. The beautiful man didn't have any reason to start making accusations without having participated alongside them in the battle. "We did our best."

"I'm on the side of justice. Having S-Class heroes this pathetic… is an embarrassment." Amai Mask arrogantly claimed while casually brushing his hair to the side. "Anybody entirely this useless should voluntarily retire."

"Hey! Don't start talkin' crap with us!" Metal Bat got in the blue-haired man's face with a snarl. If the pompous bastard was going to start throwing insults around he would more than definitely fight back. "Who's gonna care about an idol lookin' like hell with his face all busted up?"

"Do you have any idea why I don't move up to S-Class? I remain rank 1 in A-Class so I can prevent weak, good-for-nothing pissants like you from moving up to S-Class."

Before any violent actions could take place between the two, a futuristic-looking capsule landed not far from the group of heroes, making everyone pause and divert their attentions to the new arrival.

Everyone already knew who it was.

A robot came out of the silver capsule and turned towards the alien ship, it's red optics not shifting away from it, paying no attention to everyone else present.

"Metal Knight, you skip the meeting for only now to show up?" Amai Mask criticized the S-Class rank 6 hero, but his words had no effect on him.

"This is… magnificent." A metallic voice came from the robot. Bofoi, more known his alias of Metal Knight, was a man who cared for very little apart from his work and this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to study what laid beyond the stars that had came to his very doorstep. How thrilling!

"Metal Knight! What are you doing here? The battle is already over." Genos eyed the remote-controlled avatar of the recluse scientist with distrust.

'Metal Knight is your enemy' was what Drive Knight had told the cyborg when they were far away from prying ears. He couldn't stop wondering why his fellow hero would say something like that, although he already got that something was off about Bofoi when he'd retreated after his missiles to stop the giant meteor had failed. A whole city would have been destroyed if not for Saitama intervening, a city that was abandoned by Metal Knight who claimed was there only to 'field test his missiles'.

"Genos, right?"

"Do not tell me you have come to recover the spaceship. Are you here so you can create more powerful weapons with the alien technology?"

"Precisely. Powerful weapons are a necessity for the sake of peace."

Without addressing anyone else, the robot began walking away toward the crashed vessel. He didn't care who and even how many had died in the attack as long as he could get his hands on the otherworldly technology without too much trouble, some sacrifices would always need to be made in the name of progress. Why show compassion now when everything was over and if it wouldn't benefit him in the slightest? There were things out there, in the dark, lurking that were much more powerful than those aliens and, when they came, he would be ready.

"Even with powerful weapons, in the hands of heroes like this they'd be wasted." Amai Mask taunted the group with a haughty smirk.

Behind the idol/hero, Metal Bat's eye twitched and he tightened his grip on his weapon. "You're mine latter, pretty boy. Watch your ass." He murmured.

"Hey! I found some alien survivors!" Superalloy Darkshine shouted from a few yards away, drawing the attention of the S-Class ranks and the A-Class.

"I thought Lord Boros never lost." "Are we going to be killed?" "Maybe we can talk our way out of this." "Man, I'm so hungry." The aliens murmured among themselves.

"Shh, someone's coming!" The former charge of the long-range weapons division hushed his fellow crewmembers, prompting them to quiet down.

Amai Mask approached the last remnants of the alien crew and eyed them with distaste.

Everyone was wondering on what to do with the aliens until the A-Class hero took matters into his own hands and decapitated them all in one fell swoop, spilling green blood and entrails all over the floor and even some on himself.

Everyone was silent.

"Amai Mask! What the-" Superalloy Darkshine was the first to regain his bearings after the sudden action from his fellow hero.

"They did not deserve to live. They were evil. I swiftly implemented justice, that's all." He wiped some of the brood from his cheek, uncaring over what he'd just done, and turned to walk away, brushing the blond cyborg out of his way. "And Genos… I've seen you've been busy since the Seafolk incident… you've mostly been a disappointment."

Kaiyo's eyes had widened at the sight of the aliens being slaughtered and he took a step back, then another, another, and another before taking off at full speed. He had to get away!

He should have expected that fate to befall the monsters but to see it with his own eyes made him want to vomit!

All his life, the boy had been aware that humans didn't like monsters, despised them above all else, and if he wanted to have a good life that no one should know what he really was behind the human façade. It wasn't something he minded doing, pretending he was a human and mingle among them every day. At first it had been difficult, to not look over his shoulder every second of the day, to let go of the fear a hero would see through the layer of deceit and execute him on the spot, but after a while things settled down and he gained more confidence in himself to pass as just another regular human boy.

Had all that time looking nothing like his normal self made him complacent in his newfound place in society? He didn't look like a monster, so he'd never been treated as one, and the encounters between humans and monsters became so common-place they no longer bothered him when either of the sides lost a life; it was a part of a normal day at the end of it all. Monsters were cool from his childish perspective, outcasts and villains who did what they wanted when they wanted without answering to rules, but so were some heroes, strong and powerful people who got wealth and were adored for their accomplishments. Everything was akin to a manga or TV show because he never got a good look at the consequences.

After the Deep Sea King attack everything did a 180º. Suddenly everything was no longer 'just another day'. Loved ones could be lost in the blink of an eye and heroes weren't always strong enough to prevent collateral damage, people got hurt when crossing the path of a bloodthirsty beast that cared for nothing but itself and some even laid down their lives to protect innocent bystanders.

Monsters were no longer so cool as he'd thought them to be, but the connection between him being one and heroes hunting monsters didn't quite reach home until he saw Amai Mask execute the remainder of the alien crew without a care. There hadn't been much of an opposition to his actions from the other heroes and there would likely not be any repercussions for his actions. What if those monsters were forced to join the crew? What if they had families?

Was the fate of all monsters to be killed merely because of who they were?

Before the monster-boy knew it, he'd reached the Hero Association HQ and was darting in-between people, almost knocking some of the workers and medical staff over in his blind run to reach one of the people who could give him some semblance of comfort and safety.

"Kaiyo! There you are!" Lola exclaimed when she saw her son running full force toward her before crushing her waist into a vice-like grip. "I- Are you alright?"

"..."

Kaiyo didn't want to die, he didn't want his mother to die, but no matter how hard he tried they would always bleed a different color.

* * *

**AN: I had to ask friends to help me with the ending because I got stuck and even now I realize it's not as I would like it but if I write more I'm afraid it could go on for too long and become repetitive.**

**Anyway, as usual I appreciate the feedback.**


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